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Authorities have arrested Chinese national Lin Xunhan, the suspected “boss of the boss” of a network of illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) involved in human trafficking, online scams and other crimes, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime (PAOCC) said on Friday.
Lin, who is also known as Lyu Dong, was arrested Thursday night at the Las Villas de Manila subdivision in Biñan, Laguna, by a combined force of the PAOCC, Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, who were armed with an immigration “mission order.”
A mission order authorizes the BI and other law enforcers to arrest a foreigner without a warrant if he is found to have “committed, is actually committing or is about to commit a violation of immigration laws, or any of the Philippine laws, rules and regulations, which may constitute grounds for deportation.”
A PAOCC report submitted to President Marcos on Friday said Lin was arrested following an “extensive eight-month surveillance.”
PAOCC described Lin as “a figure of significant concern within the landscape of organized crime in the Philippines.”
“Since 2016, Dong has systematically built a network of scam farms, often employing legal businesses as fronts to obscure his illicit activities,” PAOCC said.
“While some of these operations have been raided and shut down, many continue to thrive, complicating law enforcement efforts to dismantle his extensive criminal enterprise.”
According to PAOCC, the passport Lin was carrying when he was arrested indicated that he was born on July 4, 1991. His birthdate in his other passport in the name of Lyu Dong was Aug. 14, 1989.
“It is important to highlight that former associates have attested to the fact that during his early years in the Philippines, he routinely utilized the identity and passport of an individual named Lyu Dong in various transactions and social interactions,” PAOCC said in its report to the President.
“This practice raises significant concerns regarding potential identity misrepresentation and underscores the individual’s propensity for adopting alternate identities to navigate his environment,” it added.
According to PAOCC, Lin also used the aliases Bogo, Boga, Xiao Long, Apao, Pahao, and Hao Hao.
Lin was on the list of people sought when PAOCC raided the Lucky South 99 Pogo hub in Porac, Pampanga, last June for alleged torture, human trafficking and online scams.
