The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has deported a total of 35 Indonesians who were previously arrested for working in an illegal online gambling center in Cebu.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado reported that the deportees included 9 women and 26 men, who boarded an outbound flight at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Most of these individuals were in their twenties and thirties and were part of a large-scale raid conducted on August 31 last year in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, targeting illegal online gambling and fraud activities.
The raid resulted in the arrest of over 100 foreigners, including Indonesians, and was carried out in cooperation with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
During the raid, authorities discovered hundreds of foreigners engaging in illegal online gambling activities inside a resort in Brgy. Agus.
Temporary workstations were found inside the resort, which had been secretly used for these illegal activities.
"Arresting these foreigners and subsequently deporting them sends a strong message that illegal online gambling activities will not be tolerated," Viado said. "We remain committed to adhering to the President's directive to prohibit such activities, and we will continue to work closely with other government agencies to ensure that those involved in illegal activities are brought to justice."
He also warned other foreigners involved in similar activities. "Anyone found engaging in illegal work without proper documentation will face the full force of the law," Viado said. "Our actions will be relentless," he warned.
The 35 Indonesians have been blacklisted from the immigration bureau due to their deportation.
