6 Filipino trafficking victims rescued from love scam op in Myanmar

Six Filipino victims of human trafficking have been rescued from a love scam operation in Myanmar.

According to Marisol Abdurahman's report on "24 Oras", the victims told of getting hit with a pipe on different parts of the body, tied with a wire, and being made to stand for 24 hours.

The victims said they were lured by recruiters offering legitimate jobs on social media.

Instead, they found themselves being used as bait for love scams.

“Nang i-scam po kami using dating sites sa US. Lahat po ng transaksyon namin ay pinapadaan po namin sa cryptocurrency,” another victim said.

(We scammed people using dating sites in the US. All our transactions go through cryptocurrency.)

Authorities said this was also done to other human trafficking victims in Southeast Asia including the recently reported in Clark, Pampanga.

They said that they were targeting foreign nationals who were “lonely and financially independent.”

“European, Australian or Americans. Lonely and financially independent. Paiibigin nila yung mga kalalakihang ito ngayon kapag nahulog na yung loob sa kanila, dun na nila dadahan dahanin,” Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Director Winston Casio said.

One of the victims was able to contact Police Colonel Dominador Matalang, the police attaché in Bangkok, and asked for assistance. Matalang then coordinated with PAOCC Executive Director Gilberto Cruz to coordinate their rescue.

The victims traveled by land from KK Park and Century Park Myawaddy to the border of Myanmar and Thailand. They then crossed the Moi River by boat to the other side of the border where they had to travel for another thirty minutes to a hotel in Mae Sot City, Thailand.

They stayed for a night in the said hotel before traveling for another eight hours to Bangkok where they stayed for a further four days to process their travel documents.

For his part, PAOCC Chairperson and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin extended financial assistance to the victims and instructed the relevant agencies to investigate and identify the victims’ recruiters in the country. —Richa Noriega with Sundy Locus/NB, GMA Integrated News