The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested 10 individuals, including 5 Chinese nationals and a Malaysian, in an inter-division cyber-patrolling operation headed by the Cybercrime Division.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, NBI Director Jaime Santiago commended his division heads following the rescue of 27 Filipinas, six of whom are minors.
Apart from the Cybercrime Division, he also recognized the joint efforts of the Organized and Transnational Crime Division (OTCD), Technical Intelligence Division (TID), and the Violence Against Women and Children Division (VAWCD).
Santiago also mentioned they conduct cyber-patrolling operations as they observed that some Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) “are forming small groups and later occupy residential houses inside subdivisions so that their operations cannot be seen.”
For his part, lawyer Jeremy Lotoc, Chief of the Cybercrime Division, stressed they conduct continuous onsite and online surveillances instead of waiting for complainants to report.
The methodology used by the traffickers, being a transnational organized crime, started with “Romeo Method or Lover Boy Tactic,” according to him.
“There are 4 phases that they follow, the objective of initial contact is to establish romantic relations with the victim zero, then grooming, they court the victim. And then isolation from their friends and families to make the victim dependent on the trafficker in terms of financial and emotional needs. The last phase is exploitation where the victims are already introduced to sex trade,” shared Lotoc.
He also revealed they also make use of an ‘endorsement scheme’ to avoid detection from law enforcement agencies.
“They usually use Telegram because it is an unregulated platform,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lotoc said they are further investigating these matters as they found Vietnamese, Malaysians, Indonesians, Russian and Kazakhstan nationals who are also involved in this kind of operation.
