Over 100 cellphones, passports in Cebu POGO hub vaults

Over 100 cellular phones, keys to eight vehicles, and three Indonesian passports were found in three vaults from a POGO hub raided in Lapu-Lapu City.

The items were kept in three vaults that were seized in a raid at a hotel establishment in Barangay Agus on August 31, 2024 where a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) hub had operated.

The opening of the three vaults nearly a month after the raid was carried out at the compound of the National Bureau of Investigation - Central Visayas Regional Office (NBI-CEVRO) where the vaults were taken for safekeeping.

The opening was based on an order by the court in response to the motion filed by NBI-CEVRO. The opening of the vaults was witnessed by the executive judge of the Lapu-Lapu City Regional Trial Court.

After a briefing, the safekeeping room was opened.

The sealed vaults were inspected first before these were taken out to an open area where the opening was done.

An electric grinder was used to open the tough vault.

Keys of eight cars were found in the first vault, 83 cellular phones in the second vault, and over 100 cellphones and three Indonesian passports were found in the third vault.

NBI-CEVRO Director, Atty. Renan Augustus Oliva, is set to file another motion before the court to have the cellphones opened. Oliva said that it is highly likely that the cellphones were used in the illegal POGO operations.

The agency is set to file additional cases against the 17 suspects arrested earlier, 16 of them are foreign nationals.

Seven counts of qualified human trafficking have already been filed against them.

The accused who are under the custody of the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) in Manila will be taken back to Lapu-Lapu City on October 3, 2024 for arraignment proceedings.

Oliva said that the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Bureau of Internal Revenue have carried out separate investigation on the illegal POGO operations.

However, Oliva declined from giving further statement on whether local officials are included in the investigation for possible involvement. — GMA Regional TV