NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents arrested Wednesday 12 Chinese tourists allegedly involved in an online gaming operation in Pampanga.
NBI spokesperson Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said the bureau’s Cybercrime Division (CCD) apprehended the 12 Chinese during an operation at a subdivision in Bacolor, Pampanga.
However, Lavin said the subject of the operation, Chen Hao Ran, was not in the facility when NBI agents arrived armed with a search warrant.
Those arrested were identified as Chen Ya Ting, Chen Chenggang, Sun Qiao Yan, Wei Bing, Lei Shi Feng, Gao Cheng Feng, Lin Jin, Wang Hai Tao, Wu Cheng Pin, Ruan Cheng Hui, Gao Fei and Chen Long Xi.
The NBI also seized from the facility 15 mobile phones, 11 desktop computers, two laptops, two routers, and two modem enhancers.
Lavin said the facility has no permits or licenses from the Philippine Gaming Corporations (PAGCOR).
Also, he said the arrested Chinese have tourist visas but no working permits.
Lavin said the operation was conducted after the NBI received last Nov. 29 an intelligence report that illegal online gambling activities managed by Chinese-looking nationals were being conducted in the area.
The arrested Chinese were charged before the Department of Justice (DoJ) for violation of the Anti-Illegal Gambling Act as amended in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act. (Jeffrey Damicog)
