POGO kingpin falls in Laguna – PAOCC

MANILA, Philippines — After an extensive eight-month surveillance, a Chinese national tagged as the kingpin or “boss of bosses” of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) in the country was arrested in Biñan, Laguna Thursday night along with 12 other Chinese and their Filipino cohorts.

Lyu Dong, also known as Lin Xunhan, was arrested by operatives of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police in Las Villas de Manila, a subdivision in Barangay Canlalay in Biñan at around 8:30 p.m.

Lyu had just alighted from his vehicle when heavily armed law enforcement authorities, brandishing a BI mission order, apprehended him.

Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, PAOCC’s executive director, identified the 12 other Chinese nationals arrested as Qui Xingjin, Zhang Jie, Zhang Haifeng, Lin Haiping, Lin Linxing, Wang Mingyang, Yuan Weijiang, Liu Changhuang, Cheng Hengfang, Su Zhonglin, Liu Changwu and Lin Xunqin.

Also rounded up were nine Filipinos serving as bodyguards and drivers of Lyu. Several 9mm handguns were seized from the suspects.

Cruz said Lyu, who also used the aliases Bogo, Boga, Xia Long, Apao, Pahao and Hao Hao, is a key figure in the landscape of organized crime in the Philippines.

“Yung Hao Hao kasi ibig sabihin niyan boss of boss. So eto ‘yung puwede nating sabihin kingpin ng mga POGO dito sa atin (Hao Hao means boss of bosses. So we can say he’s the kingpin of POGO here),” Cruz said in an interview over GMA News “Unang Balita” yesterday.

A background investigation showed Lyu was a big boss at Lucky South 99, a POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga raided last June 4 due to reports that it was being used for human trafficking and other illegal activities.

Lyu arrived in the country in 2016 and built a network of scam farms. To conceal his illegal activities, he set up legal businesses as his cover.

Lyu’s areas of operation included Central Luzon, Ilocos, Calabarzon, Central Visayas and Metro Manila. Lyu’s influence stretched across five cities in Metro Manila.

“He built many POGOs, and we’re still checking his involvement in other illegal activities,” Cruz said.

Cruz said Lyu could be one of the personalities whom dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo had stubbornly refused to identify at public hearings of the Senate and House of Representatives. The dismissed mayor, later unmasked as a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping, refused to name people with links to POGO.

“Maybe he’s one of those she refused to name because he’s still in the country,” Cruz said, explaining Guo’s being tight-lipped about POGO personalities.

Cruz said they will coordinate with the Chinese embassy to determine if Lyu had also been involved in crimes in China.

Lyu and the other suspects are detained at the PAOCC’s detention facility in Pasay City.

Big win

Sen. Risa Hontiveros described the arrest as a “big win” against POGO-linked criminals, saying “there are bigger bosses out there.”

Hontiveros said Lyu was earlier identified by the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, which she chaired. The committee had also established his connection to other key figures behind the establishment of scam hubs in the Philippines.

“The arrest of ‘big boss’ Lyu Dong is a big win in the campaign against the criminal architects of POGO and scam hubs in the country,” Hontiveros said.

“His arrest brings us much closer to our goal of seeking justice for the victims of crimes related to POGOs and scam hubs, and accountability from public officials who enabled and tolerated these crimes,” she added.

The senator commended leaders and personnel of the government agencies involved in the arrest of the Chinese and their Filipino cohorts. But she warned against letting their guard down. “We should not be complacent or reckless,” she pointed out.

“Hopefully this will be followed by the arrest of other ‘big bosses’ of POGO and scam hubs,” the senator said.

She added Lyu could not have operated a huge number of POGO hubs without help from some government people.

“I hope that we can also identify the Filipino associates of Lyu Dong,” Hontiveros said.

“There are bigger bosses out there. We must catch them, and they must be held accountable for their crimes against so many innocent people,” she said.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, for his part, said PAOCC should be given higher budget.

“We laud the efforts of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and our law enforcement agencies for the arrest of one of POGO’s big bosses Lyu Dong. This is a significant development, as we are slowly getting to the bottom of the existence of POGOs in the country,” Villanueva said.

“However, the job is not yet done. Given the extent of the workload that the PAOCC has been doing over the past few months, which involves POGO raids, there is a need to increase their budget and manpower,” the senator added.

“We will not stop until we completely expel the POGOs from our country,” he said. — Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ed Amoroso