Authorities arrested 17 male Chinese nationals during a raid on an alleged cyberporn hub in Lawaan Village, Barangay Balantang, Jaro district, Iloilo City early Saturday morning, Nov. 4.
The raid was carried out by the intelligence unit of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) and the Police Regional Office’s (PRO-6) Anti-Cybercrime Unit at 4:10 a.m. using a search warrant.
The search warrant was issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 39 presiding Judge Victorino Maniba Jr. for alleged violations of Section 4 (C) (1) of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
According Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Benitez Jr, head of the City Intelligence Unit, the sex den has been operating for more or less six months.
“Our monitoring and surveillance operations lasted for more than one month,” he said.
The raid also resulted in the recovery of, among others, 24 computer units, 2 switch hubs TP-link with 24 ports, 2 routers, 49 assorted units of cellular phones, and 4 boxes of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.
The suspects, all of legal age, are currently detained at the custodial facility of the Jaro police station and will face criminal charges.
PRO-6 director Brigadier General Sidney Villaflor commended the police units for their “successful operation.”
“Isang napakalaking accomplishment po ito para sa ating lahat. Sa pagkabuwag ng cybersex den na ito ay marami po tayong naisalbang kabataan at kababaihan na siyang pangunahing biktima ng mga ganitong klasing krimen,” he said.IMT
