PHILIPPINES-CHINA Manila, clandestine clinics controlled by the gambling mafia

A ring in Pasay with Chinese and Vietnamese doctors and nurses was dismantled. According to investigators, these rings are used to transport online scammers who become ill or are tortured, but are also used by fugitives for surgical operations to change their physical appearance and escape controls.

Manila (/Agencies) – An anti-crime operation by Philippine security forces in Pasay, in the vast metropolitan area of ​​Manila, uncovered a clandestine clinic that treated victims of human trafficking linked to gambling, but also provided cosmetic surgery to wanted persons to help them escape. The “clinic” of the controversial POGO (Philippines Offshore Gaming Operators) was discovered thanks to a tip-off from an informant. Two Vietnamese doctors, a Chinese doctor, a Chinese pharmacist and a Vietnamese nurse were arrested at the centre, none of whom were authorised to practise their profession in the Philippines.

Also found at the site were hair transplant equipment, dental prosthesis making and even a room for skin whitening sessions, apparently intended for Chinese nationals involved in gambling-related criminal activities. “If you put all these things together, you can create a completely new person,” said Winston John Casio, spokesman for the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, who said they had information about at least two other clandestine centres in Metro Manila linked to the Pogo industry. “We are concerned,” Casio added, “because we believe that workers who fall ill or are injured when they are kidnapped or tortured are not taken to legal hospitals but to facilities of this kind.”

The Philippine parliament has been pushing for a ban on pogo games in recent months, citing the industry’s links to a range of criminal activities, including scams and human trafficking. Authorities have freed more than 150 Chinese workers after raiding a compound in Porac, Pampanga province, where they discovered equipment used for torture and body modification, and even military uniforms. According to Casio, only 42 offshore gaming operators currently hold valid licenses in the Philippines, most of them concentrated in Metro Manila, and the government has already cancelled around 298 pogo licenses.