BI deports 165 Chinese nationals arrested during POGO raid in Tarlac
A total of 165 of the 167 Chinese nationals arrested during a raid of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in Bamban, Tarlac last March had been deported, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.
Those deported left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 last Tuesday, May 14, on board a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight to Pudong, China, the BI said.
The deportation of the two remaining arrested Chinese nationals has been deferred due to their pending cases in the Philippines, the BI said. They were not identified.
Quoting a report from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) which conducted the raid, the BI said that those arrested in Bamban "were involved in scamming activities.”
“They were also found to have violated Philippine immigration laws by failing to present their travel documents, for overstaying, and for being undesirable aliens,” the bureau said.
“As a result of the deportation, all 165 foreign nationals have been included in the BI’s blacklist, effectively barring their re-entry to the Philippines,” it added.