MANILA — Police have arrested 7 Chinese nationals and their Filipino driver over their alleged involvement in murder and kidnap for ransom incidents in a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) company in Biñan, Laguna.

The suspects, Qun Deng Alyas Xiao Pei, Kang Jia Wei alyas Nan Lu, Gui Chen, Shu Liu Tao, Deng Zi Yi, Feng Quing Xin, Huang Xiong Bin, along with the group’s driver, Nicanor Pines, were arrested in Biñan, Laguna and Southwoods in Biñan, Laguna.

The suspects are allegedly members of the Xiaopei-Nanlu Chinese kidnap-for-ransom group from mainland China, according to the police report.

Last Dec. 23, Lyu Long, a supervisor of the POGO company in Biñan, was reportedly kidnapped and killed after failing to pay a ransom money of 1,000,000 RMB or more than P7 million to kidnappers, Police Lt. Col. Jay Dimaandal, deputy chief of the Anti- Organized Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigation Detection Group (AOCU-CIDG) told ABS-CBN News on Wednesday.

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Local authorities later reported to have found Long’s beheaded body in Talisay, Batangas. Long’s female assistant, who refused to be identified, was also kidnapped and was allegedly raped.

On Dec. 18, the group also reportedly kidnapped another Chinese national "Alvin," a human resource officer in the same POGO company.

The victim survived the shooting in his neck and sought help from local authorities, according to Dimaandal.

“Ang modus nitong Chinese kidnappers, mag-a-apply as POGO workers sa atin sa Pilipinas, ‘pag natanggap na sila maghahanap sila ng prospect nila na kikidnapin nila na yung alam nila yung mabibiktima is tutubusin ng mga company nila,” Dimaandal said.

(These Chinese kidnappers apply as POGO workers, and when they are accepted, they would find someone to kidnap so their companies would be forced to redeem their employee.)

“Unfortunately, this kind of group na kahit sino magbayad ng ransom, pinapatay din po nila kasi nga po identified na sila,” he added.

(This kind of group eventually kill their victims.)

Pine, the Filipino driver, admitted the group’s modus and said he was responsible for shooting the human resource officer.

“Yung binaril po sa batok, wala po ako magawa sa mga ito, naka-antabay sila, kailangan daw po malinis... first time ko lang din kasi ginawa yun,” he said.

(The one I shot at the back of the head, I could not do anything about it because they were watching me. They said I had to do it right. That was the first time that I did it.)

A POGO administrator, who went by the alias “Jeff,” meanwhile confirmed that 4 of the suspects were his former employees who resigned after 3 months.

“Very briefly, for no reasons, they just [said] they have a better opportunity, no reason whatsoever, at first I was shocked and in disbelief,” said Jeff.

The suspects are now facing charges of murder, frustrated murder, rape and illegal possession of firearms.

Dimaandal urged the government and POGO employers to be more stringent in screening and accepting foreign workers in the country.

He pointed out that kidnap for ransom cases have since involved Chinese POGO workers and no longer Filipino syndicates.