The Bureau of Immigration said it arrested 244 foreigners in raids on October 2 in Siay (113 people) and Alicia (131) in Zamboanga Sibugay, which it called the biggest offshore-gaming bust of 2026 (The Star, Tribune, Philstarlife, FocusGN). Most were Chinese; others came from Cambodia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar. The NBI and the military joined the operation. About 3,000 phones, 78 monitors, laptops and SIM cards were seized in Siay. The suspects face immigration charges and some are being checked for trafficking. Nationality counts were still being verified.
The Philippines banned POGOs in 2024 after they were linked to scams, human trafficking and other crimes. A raid of this size suggests that parts of the industry went underground instead of closing, which tests how well the ban is enforced.
Online scams and text-message fraud affect ordinary Filipinos directly. Compounds like this are often tied to those schemes, so enforcement news bears on how safe your phone and bank accounts are.
Large raids show the ban has teeth and that agencies can coordinate across immigration, investigation and military units.
A single big bust also shows how many operations survived the ban, and arrests of workers do not always reach the owners behind them.
The number matters less than what follows it. Watch whether owners, landlords and any protectors are charged, not just workers, and whether the foreigners are deported or held as trafficking victims. DailyDrop will note if officials name who owned the site.
The Star (Malaysia), Daily Tribune, Philstarlife, FocusGN, Inquirer editorial (Oct 3-4, 2026)
Immigration agents arrest 244 foreigners in Zamboanga Sibugay, the biggest offshore-gaming raid of 2026
Raids on two sites on Friday netted mostly Chinese nationals, plus Malaysians, Indonesians and Cambodians. Authorities seized about 3,000 mobile phones, and trafficking checks are under way.
The Bureau of Immigration said it arrested 244 foreign nationals in raids on Friday, October 2, in Siay and Alicia towns in Zamboanga Sibugay, according to reports by The Star of Malaysia and the Daily Tribune. At the Siay site, 113 people were taken in, among them 110 Chinese nationals, two Cambodians and one Hong Kong national. The Alicia site yielded 131 more, mostly Chinese but also Malaysian, Indonesian and Myanmar nationals. The Tribune noted that nationalities were still being verified, and outlets differ by one or two on the Siay breakdown.
The operation was run by immigration agents together with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Officials said they recovered about 3,000 mobile phones, 78 computer monitors, laptops and SIM cards from a compound in Siay, the kind of equipment used in online scam operations. Those arrested face immigration charges, such as working without proper visas, and investigators are looking into possible human trafficking for some of them.
The raid came almost two years after the government ordered a ban on Philippine offshore gaming operators, known as POGOs, and months after the Anti-POGO Act of 2025 was passed. DailyDrop has not seen any official statement on who owned the compound or whether local officials are being investigated, so those questions remain open. The fact that a site this large was still running is what makes the number notable.