244 foreigners arrested in Philippines’ biggest POGO bust
Philippine immigration agents arrested 244 foreign nationals in the country’s biggest crackdown on illegal offshore gaming this year. The raids hit two suspected scam hubs in Zamboanga Sibugay on October 2.
In Siay, agents arrested 113 people, including 110 Chinese nationals, two Cambodians and one Hong Kong national. In Alicia, another 131 foreigners were arrested, most of them Chinese, along with people from Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar.
The Bureau of Immigration said officers seized 78 computer monitors, nearly 3,000 mobile phones, laptops, SIM cards and other devices. It called the operation the biggest POGO-related bust of 2026.
The hubs allegedly ran online fraud, investment scams and illegal gambling under the guise of call centres. Philippine law banned offshore gaming in late 2024, and the Anti-POGO Act of 2025 made it fully illegal.
The arrested foreigners face deportation and blacklisting. Authorities are also checking whether human trafficking and money laundering were involved.
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