Will arrest of Philippine Pogo ‘kingpin’, allegedly linked to Alice Guo, expose conspiracy?

Chinese national Lyu Dong was detained on Thursday in Laguna province, just 40km south of Manila, by operatives from the military and the Bureau of Immigration, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).

“He is who we can say is the ‘kingpin’ of the Pogos in our country,” PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz said in an interview on Friday.

Dong reportedly arrived in the Philippines in 2016 and proceeded to establish several Philippine offshore gaming operations (Pogos) around Luzon island, which the PAOCC report on his arrest described as “a network of scam farms”.

Guo was dismissed from her role as mayor of Bamban after an anti-corruption court in August found her guilty of “grave misconduct” for her alleged ties to the Pogo hub in her town, which authorities said was carrying out scams and human-trafficking activities after the facility was raided in March.