Philippine Police Rescue Kidnapped Chinese Teen, Hunt Ex-Gambling Site Operators

Police photo of a 14-year-old Chinese boy who was kidnapped and later found abandoned in Parañaque City on February 26, 2025. Image via the Philippines National Police.

A young kidnap victim clad in pajamas and missing a finger was rescued from the side of a busy Manila thoroughfare this week after his abductors ditched him during a police pursuit, Philippine authorities said Wednesday.

The kidnappers, like their teenaged target, were Chinese nationals, said the interior department’s Juanito Victor Remulla, part of a “sophisticated” syndicate with ties to the now-banned offshore gambling sites known locally as POGOs.

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