Chinese, Vietnamese, Singaporean and Malaysian victims were among those found when police raided buildings in the capital on Monday night.

People from Indonesia, Pakistan, Cameroon, Sudan, and Myanmar were also found inside the compound.

Officers are seen on standby as police raided buildings in Metro Manila on June 27, 2023.

More than 2,700 people were detained during the raids – over 1,500 were Filipinos.

Philippine authorities are interviewing the detainees to identify who was a victim or suspect, said police Captain Michelle Sabino, a spokeswoman for the anti-cybercrime unit.

International concern has been growing over internet scams in the Asia-Pacific region, often staffed by trafficking victims tricked or coerced into promoting bogus crypto investments.

Sabino said the alleged trafficking victims had accepted jobs posted on Facebook to work in the Philippines "to find players" for online games.

Many of them were forced to work 12-hour shifts every day for as little as 24,000 pesos (US$433) a month, and were prevented from leaving the compound, she said.

Sabino described it as the biggest anti-trafficking raid in the Philippines.

AFP journalists at the scene on Tuesday saw two police buses and two police trucks parked outside the compound. They were not allowed to enter the buildings.

Sabino said "everything will be investigated," including whether the workers were involved in online rackets.

In May, authorities rescued more than a thousand people from several Asian nations, including 439 Vietnamese who had been trafficked into the Philippines, held captive and forced to run online scams.

Vietnamese military rescue team returns home from Turkey

The search and rescue team of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) left Turkey on February 22 (local time), concluding its working trip to join recovery efforts in the earthquake-hit nation.

Vietnamese military rescue team completes mission in Turkey, arrives home

The 76-member search and rescue team of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) safely arrived in Hanoi from Turkey on February 23, completing their mission in the earthquake-hit nation.

Turkish president thanks Vietnamese soldiers for rescue efforts

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has thanked Vietnamese army personnel for their efforts to search for people in distress following the earthquake disaster.

Public Security Ministry’s search-and-rescue team returns from Turkey

A search-and-rescue team of the Ministry of Public Security returned to Hanoi on February 19 after completing its 10-day mission of helping with the search and rescue of earthquake victims in Turkey.

Vietnamese teams make great efforts in search and rescue operations in Turkey

As of 13:00 on February 16 (local time), the search and rescue team of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) discovered five locations of earthquake victims in Turkey, with two showing survival signs, and informed them to local forces.

Source: VnExpress