NBI rescues 5 Vietnamese trafficking victims in Pasay

August 26, 2026

By ABOGADO.COM.PH Staff

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) rescued five Vietnamese nationals believed to be victims of human trafficking in a Pasay City operation.

NBI Director Melvin A. Matibag said Wednesday the NBI-Human Trafficking Division (NBI-HTRAD) agents launched the operation on Aug. 11 after receiving intelligence that a Vietnamese national was recruiting and transporting foreign women, including alleged minors, to Manila for commercial sexual exploitation.

An undercover agent contacted the suspect through Telegram and arranged a transaction for a woman to be delivered to a hotel in Pasay.

The NBI, with the Pasay Social Welfare and Development Department, conducted an entrapment and rescue operation, intercepting two Vietnamese women, including the woman offered to the undercover agent.

The victims later led authorities to a condominium unit where their belongings were kept.

Agents found a sachet of suspected shabu and three drug paraphernalia items inside the unit.

One victim told investigators she had previously been housed with other women in another Pasay condominium, prompting a follow-up operation that led to the rescue of three more Vietnamese nationals.

Matibag commended the NBI-HTRAD operatives for the operation against what he described as a prostitution ring.#