“They look like normal clinics from the outside, but when you go inside you’re shocked by the kind of technology they have.” And they don’t ask for proof or names.
Illegal hospitals in the Philippines are offering plastic surgery services to fugitives and fraudsters to help them avoid capture, authorities say
Hair transplant tools, dental implants and intravenous skin-whitening injections were seized from a hospital in Pasay City following a police raid two months ago.
“You can create a whole new face,” Winston John Casio, spokesman for the Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC), told the BBC.
Fraud and human trafficking
Clients of the underground clinics reportedly include those who operate online casinos or Pogos (Philippine Online Gaming Operations) in the Philippines.
Pogos is intended for players in mainland China, where gambling is illegal. However, According to police, they have been used as a cover for criminal activities such as telephone fraud and human trafficking.
Three doctors – two from Vietnam and one from China – a Chinese pharmacist and a Vietnamese nurse were detained during the raid on the Pasay clinic. None had work permits in the Philippines.
Authorities also found a dialysis machine, suggesting the facility offered a range of medical treatments in addition to plastic surgery, Casio said.
“IDs are not required… You could be a fugitive or an illegal alien in the Philippines,” he noted.
The Pogos flourished under former President Rodrigo Duterte, who sought friendly ties with China during his six-year term, which ends in 2022. But his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has vowed to shut them down, citing their criminal links.
Source: AMPE