ISN’T it ironic? A police officer of Chinese descent has been tasked by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. to lead the crackdown against Chinese kidnapping-for-ransom gangs preying on their compatriots working in Philippine offshore gaming operation (POGO) companies in the country.

A great great grandson of a Chinese mainlander who migrated in Northern Luzon, Brigadier Gen. Ronald O. Lee, director of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said they have arrested at least 15 Chinese gangsters accused of kidnapping POGO workers in Metro Manila, many of them armed with high-powered firearms.

“The forecast should be the kidnapping cases should go down after the arrest of the Chinese suspects,” said Lee, a member of Philippine Military Academy “Tanglaw-Diwa” Class of 1992.

With PNP officials saying it takes a police officer of Chinese descent to catch Chinese criminals, Lee has warned Chinese syndicates to stop their illegal activities or the PNP-CIDG will soon catch up with them.

“I’m giving a stern warning to these foreign nationals to think twice before engaging in criminal activities in the country. We will not go easy on you or otherwise, you suffer the greater consequences within the bounds of law. As Gen. Azurin had said, the PNP is very firm on this. We are showing no leniency on any foreign nationals involved in criminality in our land,” Lee said.

Apart from the PNP-CIDG, Azurin has tasked the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group headed by Colonel Rodolfo D. Castil Jr. and all 17 Police Regional Offices led by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) under Brig. Gen. Jonnel C. Estomo to go after POGO kidnappers.

Over the past two weeks, police have accounted dozens of Chinese nationals involved in such illicit activity. The PNP-CIDG leadership is also expecting a sharp decline in POGO-related kidnapping-for-ransom incidents amid the ongoing massive PNP crackdown.

Main target of the crackdown are Chinese goons operating with the help of some Filipino contacts including unauthorized protective agents.

Lee on Friday announced the capture of four Chinese POGO workers and their Filipino accomplice accused of abducting a Chinese woman in Pasay City last September 14.

The suspects are now facing criminal charges for kidnapping and serious illegal detention, robbery-extortion and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Lee confirmed that the country has turned into a “hotbed” for Chinese gangsters after they were forced to shut down their operations in Vietnam and Cambodia as the two countries banned Chinese-operated online gambling and offshore gaming operations similar to POGOs in the Philippines amid security concerns.

The official said with Azurin’s directive, he has ordered his men to go all-out on POGO kidnappers in the country. “The CIDG is committed to arresting and deporting these heinous criminals to put an end to their criminal activity,” he said.

The kidnappers are mostly connected with POGO companies whose modus operandi is to offer high-paying jobs to their targets, mostly Chinese nationals working for other POGOs.

Once they have lured their targets to meet them, the gang would first ask him/her to undergo a swab test as part of the job requirement. However, once the victim appears, he or she will be abducted, detained and forced to work in their companies or sold to another company.

Police, however, have been told to exercise maximum precaution in arresting members of the syndicates since many of them have acquired high-powered guns from underground sources or are being secured by armed bodyguards.

On Thursday afternoon, officers from the CIDG National Capital Region Field Unit (NCRFU) headed by Colonel Hansel M. Marantan arrested four of the Chinese suspects following a tip from another Chinese national.

First to be arrested by members of CIDG-NCRFU’s Southern Metro Manila District Field Unit under Lieutenant Col. Mark Jason Gatdula were Chui Qun, a 28-year-old POGO staff residing in Pearl Plaza in Tambo, Parañaque City, and his Filipino driver Ernesto Cruz Jr., 42, a resident of Kalye Onse, Sumapang Matanda in Malolos City, Bulacan.

The two were arrested inside the Sea Residence Sunrise Drive in Pasay City at 4 p.m. Thursday, following a complaint filed by a Chinese national that his female friend was abducted and that the suspects were demanding P2 million for her safe release.

An operation led in the rescue of the woman and the arrest of the two suspects who yielded a caliber .45 pistol with a magazine containing six live ammunition and the boodle money.

Three hours after the victim was rescued, the CIDG-NCRFU officers conducted a follow-up operation which was triggered by an information from the arrested Chinese national that the ransom money they were asking will be delivered to a POGO company located in PITX Parañaque City.

The operation led in the arrest of Yap Tiong EE, a 37-year-old human resource staff of the accused POGO company and found to be residing in Marina Seaview Residence Tower F1001 in Tambo, Parañaque City; Li Wei Xiong, 40, a POGO employee residing in Shore Residence Tower A; and Li Xing, 38, a POGO employee renting a unit at Midas Hotel in Pasay City.

“All three suspects were identified by the victim as among the suspects who abducted him and demanded ransom for his safe release,” said Lee.

The arrested suspects were described by the PNP-CIDG as members of the “Zi Chinese Criminal Group” involved in the kidnapping-for-ransom and illegal detention of many POGO workers in the southern part of Metro Manila.

Early morning Thursday, CIDG officers also arrested another Chinese national believed to be a member of a gang abducting their compatriots playing in casinos or working in POGO companies inside Clark Freeport Zone.

Lee said that suspect Xiong Gang, a 35-year-old resident of Laguna Buenavista Executive Homes in Bgy. Barandal in Calamba City, Laguna, was arrested along with his Filipina companion and housemate identified as Nete Joy Juanico, 28.

Lee said that they are investigating Xiong Gang for his suspected involvement with the gang kidnapping their compatriots inside Clark and holding them for ransom.

According to the official, the two were first intercepted by members of the Clark Development Corporation in front of the Clark Hills Village around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday while onboard a blue Toyota Vios with plate No. DCA 8843. Found inside the car were a cal. 9mm pistol with a silencer, a magazine with eight bullets, an airsoft pistol with a magazine and a pair of handcuffs.

The PNP-AKG last Wednesday also rescued 43 Chinese nationals found being held captive by operators of a POGO company in Angeles City. Castil said arrested during the rescue operation inside the POGO site located at Lucky South 99 in Fil-Am Friendship Highway was Chen Yi Bien, the 31-year-old resource manager of the POGO company.

On the other hand, the NCRPO under Estomo has launched a massive hunt for at least four Chinese nationals and their 17 Filipino companions tagged as suspects in a deadly shooting incident in Parañaque City which left two Chinese men dead last July 22.

The official said the viral video of the shooting incident inside the apartment building in Marina Bay, Bgy. Don Galo, Parañaque City, has also been considered as “case cleared” with the identification of the majority of the suspects who are now all facing criminal charges.

Estomo said two of the suspects have been identified as one King Aglubos Lee of No. 198 Cleyver Land Tower, Pacific Avenue in Bgy. Don Galo, and Jeffrey Orlanes, a 36-year-old resident of RR Alley, Poblacion, Bgy. 5 in Tanauan City in Batangas.

The NCRPO chief said the two dead Chinese were identified as Zhang Xialong, 30, a resident of Pag-asa Extension in Sta. Mesa, Manila, and Ziyu Meng, 30, of No. 1707 Kroma Tower in Makati City.