OPERATIVES of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) have arrested five Chinese and two Filipinos for violating the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act and other cases in Pasay City.
The CIDG announced the arrest of the suspects yesterday, eight days after they were nabbed by operatives of the CIDG-Detective Special Operations Unit in Baclaran in a buy-bust operation.
The seven were nabbed for violating the SIM Registration Act, Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998 and Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
In a statement, the CIDG said “the operation stemmed from intelligence reports indicating that a criminal group was involved in selling pre-registered SIM cards to foreign nationals.
“These SIM cards were allegedly being used to commit various criminal activities, including love scams, telecommunications fraud, and other serious crimes,” the CIDG said.
Police seized from the suspects hundreds of SIM cards, boodle money, credit cards, blank cards with black magnetic strips, and text-blaster units.
The suspects are under the custody of the CIDG pending the filing of charges against them.
CIDG director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III assured the public that the CIDG will continue to perform its duties and responsibilities to ensure the safety of communities.
“We are going to go after people involved in illegal activities, regardless of their nationality, to ensure the safety of everyone,” said Torre.
