By Sonya Delgado
The National Bureau of Investigation XI raided a suspected POGO hub in Panabo City in search of a kidnap victim.
The NBI regional director Atty. Arcelito Albao said they were acting on the information they received that a Malaysian national identified as Ruby Lim was kidnapped by unidentified Chinese nationals and was being held in a warehouse in Purok 6, Bryg. Manay, Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
Albao said the alleged kidnap victim was able to share her exact location to an informant causing the NBI to do an immediate surveillance operation.
Their surveillance operation revealed that the location is a warehouse being rented by Chinese nationals for an unknown reason. There was also no legitimate business operating at the warehouse.
Their initial investigation also revealed that it has only been in operation for 3 months.
At around 2 a.m. of December 6, 2024 the NBI went to the warehouse to conduct a rescue operation, but they were not able to find Lim.
However, they were able to find 55 Chinese nationals, 5 Malaysian nationals, and 1 Filipina who were all claiming to have been forced into working in the POGO operation against their will.
The NBI operatives also found 2 air-conditioned rooms that have 60 sets of computers that are being used for the POGO operations, passports, IDs, cellphones, firearms, handcuffs, and baseball bats.
While the NBI was not able to confiscate the computers due to legal issues, they are now currently working on securing a search warrant to seize the units for forensic examinations in preparation of filing appropriate charges against the POGO operators.
The NBI is also checking the records of the arrested foreign nationals to see if they have standing arrest warrants or pending cases.