4 Malaysians rescued from Chinese captors
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2020 10:42:27 +0000
MAP of San Pedro Laguna
Anti-kidnapping operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) rescued on Saturday four Malaysians in a raid on the safehouse of their Chinese abductors in San Pedro, Laguna, officials announced yesterday.
Brig. Gen. Jonnel Estomo, director of the Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG), said the abduction appears to be related to the operation of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGO wherein employees are being prevented from getting out of their job.
He identified the rescued Malaysians as Tan Hang Yi, Kho Soon Chiang, Cheam Chun Keat, and Jonathan Ting Zhi Haw.
“The operation stemmed from a request for assistance to rescue four Malaysian citizens who were kidnapped, threatened, and being demanded money for their release,” said Estomo.
The request for assistance came from the International Police through the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime.
Estomo said his men immediately located the whereabouts of the victims at the Chrysantemum Village in San Pedro.
“The teams were able to locate the safehouse where the kidnap victims are being held, which at the same time is also a POGO hub, and swiftly conducted rescue operation which resulted to the safe release of the kidnap victims,” said Estomo.
The operation also resulted in the arrest of 17 Chinese identified as Chao-Min Weng, 26; Xiongxing Gan, 23: Jiang Yang, 27; Haihua Liang, 22; Jin Tang,21; Zhoujing Yu, 27; Xinjian Tang, 25; Mingyun Hoh, 21; Zhang Hao, 28; Go Jun, 23, Haiyang Duan, 23; Zhang Lihong, 23; Rung Mei Sun, 21; Masdi Jadi, 36; Yam.Chak Wan, 27; Sun Bin 29 and Chen Ming, 23.
Two of their Filipino companions were also arrested, identified as 31-year-old David Acosta and 29-year-old Joseph Indicio.
AKG spokesman Maj. Ronaldo Lumactod said the initial investigation disclosed that the four Malaysians were recruited as card dealers in a casino in Metro Manila.