CAMP OLIVAS -- A suspected lady operator of a cybersex den and her two other cohorts were arrested by government agents following a raid over the weekend at the suspects’ lair in Sitio Camalig, Barangay Dau in Mabalacat town, described by authorities as the biggest cyber prostitution operation in the province.
Chief Inspector Randy Glenn Silivio, provincial officer of the Pampanga Criminal Investigation and Detection Team, identified the suspects as Mitchel Abunido Aguiero, 27, alias Pops Powell, of 2-7 Plaridel ll, Barangay Amsic in Angeles City; Erica Alopo-op, 27, of Sitio Camalig; and Rommel Paragas, 24, of Barangay Abacan, Barangay Balibago in Angeles City.
Aguiero, Silvio said, claimed to be the owner of the Powell Web Marketing, while Alopo-op is reportedly the Human Resource Management officer. Paragas, on the other hand, was introduced as a “trainor” of cyber models.
In his report to Senior Supt. Marvin Bolabola, regional chief of the 3rd Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (3CIDU) stationed in this regional police camp, Silvio said the suspects did not resist when the raiding team, armed with a search warrant, raided Powell Web Marketing Corporation.
He said the raid was conducted on the strength of a search warrant issued by Judge Ramor Pamular of the Guimba, Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court. The search was witnessed by several barangay officials with the presence of some personnel of the cyber firm.
The raid, Silvio said, stemmed from a complaint filed by a certain Rosalyn Nantes against the operator of Powell Web Marketing Corporation. She told investigators of the alleged operation of cybersex at the place of Agueiro. She said nude women pose on web cameras to entice clients, who are mostly foreigners.
Last Friday, Pampanga CIDT backed by barangay officials and volunteers, raided the place of Aguiero where they seized 30 units of computer sets with two servers and assorted sex toys in different cubicles where cyber models are holed-up.
Silvio said eight young women believed to be duped by the suspects and forced to work as cyber models were rescued and placed under the custody of the Pampanga CIDT, but were later released to the Social Welfare and Development Office for custody and debriefing.
Aguiero pointed to British national Andy Martin Powell as the financier of the cybersex operations. She said the foreigner was not around when the raiding team arrived.
The arrested persons were informed of their rights before they were taken to the Pampanga CIDT office for documentation, said Silvio, adding that a violation of trafficking in person had been filed in court against the suspects now detained at the CIDT detention cell.
Seized items are presently under the custody of the Pampanga CIDT and would be used as evidence against the suspects.
Trafficking in person offense is bailable under the law. Most of these cases eventually lead to dismissal because of technicalities, Central Luzon Daily gathered.