Coljuegos reports historic crackdown on illegal gambling in Colombia under Gustavo Petro government

Coljuegos has published what it calls the strongest anti-illegal-gambling effort in its history, with enforcement, website blocking, sanctions and case referrals spread across Colombia. For PSPs, acquiring teams and operators, the point is simple: this is not just about raids on machines — the regulator is also pushing hard on digital distribution and prosecution.

1. Coljuegos said it carried out 514 operations with the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office, territorial authorities and other agencies across 24 departments, resulting in the seizure of 12,852 illegal gaming items. The haul included electronic slot machines, betting modules, roulette tables and other equipment used to run games of chance outside the legal framework.
2. The agency also said it destroyed 15,644 illegal items for the first time in its history. That matters because it shows the enforcement policy is not limited to confiscation; Coljuegos is also taking physical supply out of circulation.
3. According to Marco Emilio Hincapié, president of Coljuegos, illegal activity diverted more than US$126.7 million, or 400,000 million Colombian pesos, away from Colombia’s health system. In this sector, that is the part operators and payment intermediaries tend to watch closely: the regulator is tying enforcement directly to public funding.
4. On the online side, Coljuegos issued 58,916 orders to block websites involved in illegal betting and promotion, including 437 social media profiles advertising unauthorized betting houses. It also transferred more than 1,961 cases to the Attorney General’s Office that had been stalled since 2017, pushing them back into the criminal process.
5. Coljuegos imposed 209 sanctions for illegality worth more than US$30 million, or 94,739 million Colombian pesos, and signed 56 legal compliance pacts with city halls, governors, gaming operators, trade groups and chance concessionaires. For licensed players and their PSPs, the message is that the enforcement perimeter now covers both offline distribution and the online acquisition funnel.