NBI rescues 3 female foreigners from 'prostitution den' in Pasay City
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) rescued last week one female Vietnamese and two female Chinese nationals from a sex trafficking den in Pasay City.
In a statement issued on Saturday, August 9, the NBI said its Organized and Transnational Crime Division (NBI-OTCD) agents received a tip about an alleged prostitution den reportedly operated by foreign nationals in a hotel in Malibay, Pasay City.
The information disclosed that the operators of the den offered Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese women to Chinese nationals for sexual services through online booking platforms.
After conducting a series of surveillance operations, the NBI-OTCD agents decided to set up an entrapment operation and secured two bookings with the prostitution den using a Telegram account.
Two Chinese informants posed as clients and were picked up by a man driving a grey car on August 2. The poseur-clients entered a hotel, while NBI-OTCD agents tailed the grey car that picked up three female foreign nationals.
The NBI-OTCD eventually arrested the grey car driver who was identified as Jerwin C. Laila, and rescued the female Vietnamese and two female Chinese nationals from the sex trafficking scheme.
The NBI said the rescued foreign nationals executed sworn statements and revealed that a certain Tao Yuan offered them for sex services via online booking, while Laila regularly fetched them when they had clients.
Laila was charged last August 4 before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office with violations of Republic Act No. 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended by RA Nos. 10364 and 11862. Tao Yuan will also be charged with the same criminal violations, the NBI said.
NBI Director Jaime B. Santiago has lauded the operatives of the NBI-OTCD for their dedication and perseverance, which led to the successful arrest of Laila and rescue of the three female foreigners.