The Philippines plans to put cops in casinos to monitor other cops in casinos following a police superintendent’s alleged involvement in the kidnap and murder of a local junket operator.
Last week, Philippines National Police (PNP) officers engaged in a shootout with members of a gang suspected of carrying out the kidnapping and murder of Oscar/Carlos Tan, a junket operator working out of Manila’s casinos. Among the gang members killed in the shootout were three current and former PNP officers.
A fourth officer surrendered to the police, and is believed to have fingered Southern Police District Superintendent Johnny Orme as the gang’s ringleader. Orme, who remains at large, was also suspected of operating an illegal money-lending business to unlucky gamblers at Resorts World Manila and Solaire Resort & Casino.
On Tuesday, PNP director general Ronald dela Rosa announced plans to “post intelligence personnel at [Manila’s gaming zone] Entertainment City and monitor policemen who are always spending time there.”
Dela Rosa expressed frustration with “a lot of ninja cops who did not report for Mindanao duty,” referencing the province that has been under martial law since May due to the activities of Muslim terrorist groups.
Instead, Dela Rosa said these cops had been “frequenting the Entertainment City” casinos. “If they are there to gamble, where did they get the money? If they are to hang out, what is the reason why they are there?”
Orme is suspected of wanting to expand his money-lending business into a full-fledged junket operation, and the prevailing theory is that he abducted Tan as a means of taking over his junket business. Dela Rosa said it was evident that the policemen hanging around the casinos “know who’s who in the gambling business.”
Casino-related kidnappings have become the latest media sensation in the Philippines, particularly as they commonly involve foreign nationals who come to Manila because casinos are illegal in their home countries. South Korea alone has reported 15 casino kidnappings of its citizens since April.
