Colgamesthe regulatory entity for games of luck and chance in Colombia, carried out a control operation against illegality which resulted in the destruction of 574 elements of games of luck and chance that operated without authorization in departments such as Cundinamarca, Atlántico, Valle del Cauca, among others.
According to the entity, the objects destroyed in the operation led by the Operations Control Management They had stopped transferring around COP 63,545 million (about USD 14.9 million) to the Colombian health system.
Among these elements were electronic slot machines, bingo chairs, roulette wheels, poker tables, Keno and internet betting moduleseach of them made up of computers, CPUs, televisions, ticket machines, among others.
“The destroyed items were valued at close to COP 169 million (USD 39,653) and belonged to criminal structures that They were dedicated to operating games of luck and chance without authorization and without paying the respective monopoly rents.“, held Marco Emilio Hincapié, president of Coljuegos.
With this operation, the destruction of 7,934 items in this year’s runwhose value is estimated at more than COP 1.5 billionwhich amount to about USD 351.000.
“Because of these illegal activities, The health system stopped receiving more than COP 200,000 million (USD 46.7 million) in recent yearsresources that would have allowed us to serve more Colombians in the subsidized regime,” said Hincapié.
Likewise, the head of Coljuegos assured that, in the coming days, the organization will continue with the destruction of other 117 electronic slot machines, 350 bingo elements (chairs, tables and boards), 8 poker tables and 252 sports betting modules who were also operating without proper authorizations.
Along these lines, the official assured that never before had an administration attacked illegality in the industry so strongly. It should be added that days ago Coljuegos carried out a similar operation in Cali.
“We do this by order of our president Gustavo Petro, who has always asked us to fight against corruption and forcefully hit the mafias that operate games without authorization in various regions of the country.“said Hincapié.
According to data from Coljuegos, illegal gambling organizations in Colombian territory are stopping paying the State around COP 1.5 trillion annually for exploitation rights (more than USD 350,000 million)resources that could be allocated for the health of low-income citizens.
