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Thursday, March 28, 2024

44 foreigners arrested for abducting casino players

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FORTY-FOUR Chinese and Malaysian suspects have been detained in the Philippines over the kidnapping and beating of a Singaporean woman abducted at a Manila casino, authorities said Thursday.

Police found the victim Wu Yan, 48, at a Manila condominium on Tuesday, a day after her abduction by two Malaysian members of the gang, Justice Undersecretary Erickson Balmes said in a statement.

“[She] was held, deprived of her right to liberty and was beaten and threatened by her kidnappers who demanded $180,000 for her release,” Balmes said.

Two Malaysians, along with 42 Chinese suspects, were arrested after her rescue and would be charged with kidnapping, police said. 

“The group was believed to be responsible [for] the series of kidnapping incidents perpetrated against foreign nationals who are high roller casino players in recent months,” Balmes said.

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He gave no details of the other supposed abductions nor what had happened to the victims.

Separately, the Justice Department said 14 of the 44 accused had asked for a preliminary investigation of their case.

Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon said the 14 made the request during the inquest proceedings on Wednesday on the kidnapping and illegal detention charges filed against them following their arrest on Tuesday.

BEFORE SUSPECTS. National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa, in front of Chinese and Malaysian suspects detained in a kidnapping case at PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame Thursday. Some 44 Chinese and Malaysian suspects have been detained in the Philippines over the kidnapping and beating of a Singaporean woman abducted at a Manila casino. AFP

Fadullon said that, with the request, the 14 would be required to submit their counter-affidavits in response to the criminal charges filed against them.

The Philippines has in recent years been drawing foreign casino players as it builds up its gaming industry, aiming to rival Las Vegas and Macau.

However, the reported kidnappings, and an arson attack on another Manila casino that killed 37 people last month, have raised safety concerns. 

Abelardo Borromeo, spokesman for the Philippine police’s anti-kidnapping group, said the gang members were also believed to be part of a loan sharking syndicate operating at a glittering strip housing mega-casinos fronting Manila Bay.

The victim was playing baccarat at one of the casinos there when the two Malaysian suspects “befriended” her and invited her to play in another casino in the area, Borromeo said. 

But the suspects instead brought her to the condominium and demanded a ransom, he said.

On Thursday, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa vowed a crackdown on kidnappings as he paraded the detained suspects before television cameras.

“You are free to come, enjoy gambling, but you are not free to commit crime when [you] are here in the Philippines,” he told the suspects. With Francisco Tuyay and Rey E. Requejo

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