CONTENT WARNING: This story contains reports of suspected abuse. Readers are advised to exercise caution.

MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of police officers, backed by riot police, raided a large religious complex in a southern Philippine city on Saturday as they searched for a local pastor accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking, police officials said.

A supporter of the group, called Kingdom of Jesus Christ, reportedly died of a heart attack during the massive police operation that began early in the morning at the group’s compound in Davao City. The operation was broadcast live online by a local TV network owned by the group, police said. The death was not related to the police operation, police said.

Agents brought equipment that could detect people behind cement walls. But by mid-afternoon, they found no sign of Apollo Quiboloy at the compound — some 30 hectares (75 acres) that include a cathedral, a school, a residential area, a hangar and a taxiway leading to Davao International Airport.

Quiboloy and his lawyer deny the criminal charges against him and his religious group, which they say were fabricated by critics and former members who were expelled from the religious group after committing irregularities.

Quiboloy’s followers, many of whom filmed the police raid on their cellphones, shouted at the police and questioned the legality of the raid, declaring the innocence of Quiboloy, a staunch supporter and spiritual advisor to former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte had criticized previous attempts by large numbers of police officers to arrest Quiboloy as excessive.

Quiboloy claims to be the appointed son of God. In 2019, he claimed to have prevented a major earthquake that hit the southern Philippines.

Police Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III, who led the raid, said officers were seeking to serve arrest warrants for Quiboloy on several criminal charges, including child abuse and human trafficking. He justified the sweeping effort by saying more than 40 buildings and structures had to be searched in the religious compound, where large numbers of Quiboloy’s followers were vocally protesting and resisting the raid.

“We’re not leaving here until we get him,” Torre told reporters as sirens blared in the background. “We have non-bailable warrants for Quiboloy and four others for very serious crimes, including human trafficking, child abuse and other charges.”

In 2021, federal prosecutors in the United States announced charges against Quiboloy for allegedly having sex with women and underage girls who faced threats of abuse and “eternal damnation” unless they met the self-proclaimed “son of God.”

Quiboloy and two of his key executives were among nine people named in a new indictment returned by a federal grand jury and made public in November 2021.

The new indictment contained a series of charges, including conspiracy, child trafficking, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, marriage fraud, money laundering, cash smuggling and visa fraud.

Quiboloy’s group said at the time that he was ready to face the charges in court, but he went underground after a Philippine court ordered his arrest and that of several others for child molestation and sexual abuse. The Philippine Senate separately ordered Quiboloy’s arrest after he refused to appear before a committee investigating criminal allegations against him.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has called on Quiboloy to surrender and assured him of fair treatment by authorities.

When he was mayor of Davao City and later president, Duterte appeared on Quiboloy’s news program to promote his police-enforced drug crackdowns, which left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead. Duterte and his police officials have denied authorizing extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, but he has openly threatened drug dealers with death while in office.

The International Criminal Court is investigating the widespread killings as part of Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs, which it sees as a possible crime against humanity.