Colombian regulator carries out almost 500 processes against illegal gambling operators

The regulatory entity of gaming in Colombia (Coljuegos) shared a report in which it communicated the results of its fight against illegality and evasion in the country.

As part of its actions against illegal gambling, in 2024, the entity opened 485 processes against gaming operators for evasion or omission of payments corresponding to operating rights.

So far this year, Coljuegos also destroyed 3,986 elements of games of chance that were used in illegal bets and audited the operation of close to 28,000 slot machines throughout the country to verify the accuracy of the transfers made.

Marco Emilio Hincapié, President of the entity, highlighted that the amount being evaded has reached COP 2,300 million ($584,106) so far this year. "We estimate that, during 2023, evasion in the national territory exceeded COP 120,000 million ($30,475,080), a figure that represents up to 35% of the total transfers made to the health of Colombians in the same period," he explained. 

#Noticias | Coljuegos ha abierto un total de 485 procesos a operadores de juegos localizados que, presuntamente, estarían evadiendo u omitiendo el pago de los correspondientes derechos de explotación. 👉🏻https://t.co/gIeYu7eGCk@petrogustavo @infopresidencia @MinSaludCol pic.twitter.com/BUXBbyz0hY

— @ColjuegosCo (@ColjuegosCo) June 5, 2024

Likewise, Hincapié affirmed that around 681 cases of alleged unauthorized operations are being investigated. Of this total, 621 correspond to complaints for possible illegal operation of localized games such as bingo, electronic slot machines, roulettes, and Internet betting modules, among others.

Coljuegos is also investigating 35 cases of raffles and unauthorized promotions, as well as 25 operators of localized games for the alleged operation of machines that are not registered, but which operate in legal casinos. In addition to this, 976 blocking orders to websites that carry out illegal bets have been issued.

"All these actions we are developing have the sole purpose of protecting health resources. Last year, Coljuegos transferred COP 897,556 million ($227,942,424), and, with the work of controlling evasion and illegality, we expect to reach $960,000 million ($243,800,640) this year,” Hincapié concluded.

Apart from the investigations against illegal gambling, Coljuegos is making progress in terms of streamlining procedures and services. According to its president, 357 requests for procedures have been received from localized gaming operators, although more than 50% of the requests were filed without complete documentation.