Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents caught three Koreans in the act of operating online gaming sites in Pampanga--a no-no based on their country’s law against illegal gambling.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said members of the bureau’s fugitive search unit (FSU) arrested the three aliens on Wednesday, July 21 inside a house in Timog Park Subdivision, Angeles City, Pampanga where they have set up workstations to run their clandestine online gambling operations.
Morente said two of the arrested individuals--Lee Jongdae, 38, and Sun Dong Ho, 39--are fugitives wanted by authorities in Seoul, South Korea. Another Korean, Kim Dong Heon, 31, is their alleged accomplice in the online gaming racket.
Lee is subject of an arrest warrant issued by a district court in Chungcheong province, where he is charged with setting up gambling places in violation of South Korea’s penal code.
Meanwhile, Sun has been accused of engaging in sexual exploitation and prostitution via websites he allegedly operated in 2014. Through such websites, Filipina prostitutes get "offered" to at least 30 Korean customers.
All three aliens are currently detained at the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, pending their deportation.
“Let their arrest serve as a warning to other unscrupulous aliens that they should not use the Philippines as a venue for their illegal activities,” the BI chief declared.
He cited the case of Sun who allegedly preyed on Filipino women by luring them into prostitution to cater to the sexual desires of Korean customers.
“He committed a very serious offense against our Filipino women. It is only proper that he be deported and blacklisted for what he did,” Morente said.