MORE than 300 Chinese were arrested in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan last Monday for engaging in cyber crimes and other illegal activities.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the operation that led to the arrest of the 324 Chinese was carried out by operatives from the BI Intelligence Division backed up by elements from the military, including the AFP’s Western Command.
Morente said the Chinese were rounded up in eight hotels and establishments in the city, caught in the act of doing illegal activities.
“They will undergo deportation proceedings for violating the conditions of their stay in the country and working here without permits. Initial reports indicate that most of these aliens are overstaying and undocumented,” Morente said, adding many of them were not able to show their passports or any travel documents.
The raiding teams, led by BI Intelligence Officers Jude Hinolan and Charlie Bautista, seized hundreds of laptops, cellular phones and gadgets during the operations.
BI Acting Intelligence Chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. said the operations were conducted as an offshoot of reports and complaints from local officials in Puerto Princesa on the presence of many illegal Chinese workers in the city.
Manahan said the foreigners, billeted in inns and hotels, were subjected to weeks of intensive surveillance before the raids were carried out.
Last week, the BI apprehended 227 illegal Chinese workers at the Ortigas Center in Pasig City for alleged illegal online activities.
