3 aircon repairmen nabbed for theft inside closed POGO hub in Pasay City

The arrested suspects and the confiscated pieces of evidence. (Photo from the Pasay City Police)
Three air conditioning repairmen were arrested by members of the Pasay City Police MOA Substation for trying to sneak out a vacuum cleaner loaded with stolen cellular phones and laptop from a closed Philippine Offshore Gaming Office (POGO) hub in Pasay City on Thursday, Feb. 27.
Pasay City Police Chief Col. Samuel Pabonita identified the suspects as alias “Norman,” “Reniel,” and “Antonio” all air conditioning maintenance workers. They were arrested at the 7th floor of One Wheel Condominium, CBP Compound, Mall of Asia (MOA) Complex, Pasay City.
Pabonita said Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano was with the members of the Presidential Anti-Organized Commission (PAOCC) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) when the illegal POGO hub was raided.
A total of 455 individuals was arrested, 404 of whom were foreigners including Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Korean and Vietnamese. The rest were Filipinos.
He said the POGO hub was the center for love, cryptocurrency and investment scams and was closed down by the city government.
Policemen from the MOA Substation were alerted after seeing the suspects were about to leave the place together with the arrested POGO workers bringing with them their tools and a vacuum cleaner.
Pabonita said that after a check made by the operatives, the vacuum cleaner contained several cellular phones and a laptop worth P220,000.
The suspects were immediately brought to the Pasay City Police Investigation and Detective Management Section (IDMS) for investigation and detention.