A total of 283 individuals were arrested by the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 in the past six days as the regional police stepped up the campaign against illegal operations of e-sabong in line with the marching order by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. for an intensive drive versus online cockfighting.
According to PRO 7 chief Brigadier General Roderick Augustus Alba, they are intensifying the intelligence to gather information and share with the local communities to run after the bettors and e-sabong operators.
During the six-day operation from December 5 to 10, Alba said that almost P156,000 bets were seized, and based on the reports by the PNP, the illegal online sabong also caters to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
In Cebu City, police officers arrested 106 individuals, followed by the Cebu Police Provincial Office with 42 and the regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Group with 40.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the termination of e-sabong operation to public pressure over the case of 34 missing sabungeros, as well as the reports that bettors, which include policemen were in debt and forced to engage in illegal activities to sustain their addiction to online cockfighting.
