During an interview with Teleradyo Serbisyo on September 7, Castillo said that they acted upon the request of the Indonesian Embassy after three Indonesians escaped from the online gambling (POGO) center.
"In Lapu-Lapu, we received a request from the Indonesian Embassy. On July 21, escapees fled from the hotel, and they seemed to be prevented from passing through. The escapees reported to the Indonesian Embassy that there were still 13 people inside, and we had a mission order to conduct a rescue," he said.
"Surprisingly, when we arrived, we saw that there was an online gambling company inside, and three of them were in the farm." Castillo stated that they successfully rescued 159 foreigners. After evaluation, 16 of them were charged for participating in POGO operations, which are allegedly used for scams.
He mentioned that some of the detainees were Chinese.
Castillo said: "They charged 16 people. We are still evaluating how to handle this, whether they were rescued or scammed." They are currently documenting the deportation of foreigners.
The Chinese Embassy stated yesterday, "Everything is recorded, we are just clarifying that since Ban Ban was deported, the Chinese government has paid for the deportation of these nationals. Vietnamese, Indonesians, Malaysians have not yet paid for their own deportation."
