Para±aque: A joint Bureau of Immigration (BI) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) operation netted 32 foreign nationals found to be working for clandestine Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in Para±aque City on Friday night. BI intelligence division chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. reported that the foreigners were involved in online gaming and scamming operations in a building in Aseana City, a mixed-use central business district.

According to Philippines News Agency, the operation nabbed 20 Chinese, 11 Malaysians, and a Cambodian. ‘Let this be a warning to foreign nationals who blatantly continue illegal operations despite the ban of the President,’ BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said in a news release on Saturday. ‘We will not stop until all illegal aliens are arrested and deported.’

The BI said more arrests and deportations are expected as President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. had already banned POGO operations in July 2024. The 32 foreigners will remain under NBI custody while undergoing deportation proceedings.