Cops kill porn suspects

2005-05-26 13:36

Manila - Two Dutchmen suspected of operating a pornographic internet site out of the Philippines were killed in a clash with government security forces, said officials on Thursday.

Agents of the presidential anti-illegal recruitment task force swooped down on the base of the cybersex operations in a house in Manila's suburban city of Quezon late on Wednesday.

Task force chief Reynaldo Jaylo said, but the two Dutchmen - Willen Cornelis Van Engelenburg, 43, and Hendrikus Erik Van Engelenburg, 38 - engaged the agents in a firefight.

Jaylo said: "They fought back with the guns they use to scare women into working for them."

He said the suspects were rushed to a nearby hospital, but died while being treated.

Suspects 'moving to avoid detection'

Jaylo said the task force rescued six Filipino women forced to work for the cybersex operations, while two Filipino accomplices were also arrested.

He said: "The suspects had been operating for the past three years, but they were regularly moving their base to avoid detection."

Jaylo said tips from "friends in Europe and America who are able to access the pornographic website" helped track down the suspects.

Earlier in the year, resident Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered authorities to intensify the crackdown against cybersex operations and appealed to the public to report suspicious internet cafes.

She made the call after successive raids of police and other law enforcement agencies on various establishments in Manila and nearby provinces that operated pornographic internet sites.

- SAPA