The Philippines police has been ordered to intensify patrols and intelligence operations against illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in its ongoing crackdown on the sector after it was banned from January 1st of this year.
In a Monday statement, the Acting Philippine National Police Chief indicated that federal and state units were to increase their monitoring of coastal and border areas, after reports that criminal syndicates were trying to relocate operations and recruit victims via illegal travel routes.
In particular, the reports indicated that sea routes from Palawan to Sabah, then overland to Malaysia, were being used to get to destinations such as Myawaddy, Maynmar, or Phnom Penh.
Cited by the Philippine News Agency, the official noted that “We are working with the intelligence community and our foreign counterparts in relation to this information. But I have already instructed concerned police offices to intensify patrols along backdoor routes that may be exploited by syndicates to continue their illegal POGO operations”.
