155 human trafficking victims sent home after rescue operation

DAVAO CITY — The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group successfully facilitated the return of 155 human trafficking victims to their respective communities.

“We sent them home to their families because they were trafficked and deceived from the start,” Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III said  as he emphasized the importance of reuniting the victims with their families after the traumatic experience of being trafficked.

Torre disclosed that on Saturday around 2:00 am, the rescued victims were accompanied by personnel from his office, the Municipal Social Welfare and Development, and officers from the San Rafael police station to the Philtranco bus terminal in Pasay City.

Subsequently, at 9:23 am, the 155 individuals departed Pasay City aboard four Philtranco buses headed for Gingoong City, Misamis Oriental.

These individuals were lured from their communities with promises of employment at a factory in Bulacan, unaware that the facility was involved in the production of counterfeit cigarettes.

The factory was raided by the CIDG on November 7, resulting in the seizure of over PHP 2.4 billion worth of illegal cigarettes and equipment in a major operation in Bulacan and Valenzuela.

The CIDG Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crime Unit, in collaboration with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and local authorities, successfully conducted a simultaneous operation, OPLAN OLEA, which dismantled a significant illegal manufacturing and distribution network.

The crackdown primarily targeted Bulacan, identified as a major center for the illicit production of fake cigarettes that were later shipped to Valenzuela for distribution.

Numerous individuals, including foreign nationals using aliases such as “Yanliang”, “Rock”, “Zizhan”, “Zili”, and “Ziqiang”, were apprehended in Valenzuela, along with “WU” in Bulacan. These individuals are now facing charges related to tax evasion, intellectual property infringements, and human trafficking, among other offenses.

General Torre emphasized, “We have repatriated them to their families because they were victims of trafficking and deception from the outset.”