Rennan Oliva, the director of the NBI in the Central Visayas region, stated that the seized smartphones and passports will serve as additional evidence in the lawsuit against the scam operators.
On Thursday, September 26, NBI agents in Cebu raided three safes at the Tourist Garden Hotel Center, a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), and discovered over 200 used smartphones, SIM cards, and passports.
On August 31, authorities arrested 169 foreigners at this hotel who were involved in romance scams and cryptocurrency fraud during an operation.
On September 5, the NBI issued a search warrant at a hotel in Barangay Agus, Lapu-Lapu City, seizing multiple computers, smartphones, documents, and safes.
"Everything found in the safes can be used in the case we are prosecuting, which is a qualified trafficking case against 17 individuals," said Rennan Oliva at a press conference. Oliva mentioned 16 foreigners and one Filipino, identified as the perpetrators of the illegal scam activities at the Cebu hotel, who were charged with qualified trafficking on September 3.
The detainees face charges of violating immigration laws and are currently detained at the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) detention facility in the Nasdake Building in Pasay City.
The NBI regional director added that they will apply for a court order to inspect the contents of the smartphones found in the safes. Authorities are looking for evidence that could be used to initiate other cases, including money laundering and cybercrime.
Agents discovered that the passports found in the safes belonged to Indonesian nationals.
"I can only speculate that these passports belong to foreigners. I have not seen the passports yet, but according to the testimony of the rescued Indonesians, their passports were confiscated upon arrival," Oliva said.
The operation on August 31 was aimed at rescuing two Indonesians who had escaped from another suspected POGO center in Mandaue City. The Indonesian Embassy requested the NBI Cebu regional office's assistance in rescuing other Indonesian nationals, who, according to the escapees, were still detained. During the operation at the Tourist Garden Hotel, officials rescued six of the eight Indonesians requested by the embassy.
Oliva questioned why the smartphones were hidden in the safes. NBI officials said the smartphones might contain valuable information about the illegal operations of POGO. "We will apply for a court order to disclose the computer data. We will investigate these computers as well as the computers we have seized, and we will coordinate with the cybercrime division in Manila," Oliva said.
