104-Arrested-as-Online-Gambling-Raid-is-Caught-on-Video

104 Arrested as Online Gambling Raid is Caught on Video

93 Chinese nationals and 11 Filipinos were arrested Friday as part of an operation to shut down an illegal online gambling den in Pasig City, Philippines. The dramatic scenes were caught on news cameras just days after authorities announced a crackdown on unlicensed online gambling operations, with the professional-looking outfit being the first victims.

The raid is the first victory for the Department of Labor and Employment’s new interagency task force, which was established to stamp out foreigners working in Philippine casinos and for locally licensed online gambling operators without valid work permits.

If the leaders of the Pasig City operation chose to ignore the news and call the city’s bluff then their gamble failed, with the raid occurring just four days after the announcement of the task force. Several computers, mobile phones, identification cards, and other related devices were confiscated by Regional Special Operations Unit operatives and passed onto the Philippine National Police Anti-Crime Group for forensic testing.

A Promising Start

Philippine authorities have had a particular problem with foreign nationals running illegal gambling operations in the country, with Senator Franklin Drilon claiming that he had been told that some 400,000 foreign nationals were employed in gambling in Manila alone. This dwarfs the 116,000 Alien Employment Permits granted to foreign workers since 2015, nearly half of which have gone to Chinese nationals.

Less than two years ago a sting operation at Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark Freeport, Pampanga landed over 1,300 Chinese who were part of an illegal gambling operation run by Chinese gaming tycoon Jack Lam. The new task force has certainly made a great start in ridding online gambling of bad actors, making the experience safer for players and legal operators alike.