Coljuegos has apologized publicly to owners of licensed gambling establishments for the “inappropriate” procedures that agents used earlier in this month.
Coljuegos released a press release admitting that officials of the Casino Dallas, located in Cartagena city admitted to “wrong behavior”. The company said that the “wrong conduct” was committed during early-May surveillance and control operations.
Coljuegos, without commenting specifically on what happened, chose to confirm the fact that Casino Dallas has a license and is fully authorised to provide gambling services. The company apologized to Antonio Chaurra Parra, and Lucas Betancur Salazar.
Marco Emilio Hincapie said, “We stress our determination as an organization to ensure that this kind of inadvertent procedures are not repeated when control actions against illegal activities carried out later on.
We also emphasize the significant contribution gambling and gambling entrepreneurs have to Colombians’ health. We are committed to working hand-in-hand with licensed operators in order to fight illegal gambling.
Gambling is illegal – crackdown
Casino Dallas’ incident coincided with an enforcement of illegal activities at the beginning of this month. The regulator released a press release on May 2 stating that more than 1,000 items of gambling equipment had been destroyed. The regulator warned it will continue to destroy equipment in other areas of the country over the next few days.
Hincapie stated at the time: “We will continue to fight illegality through forceful action.” We tell those who run games of chance and luck without a contract of concession to follow the law and to contribute to the well-being of Colombians.
We provide all facilities for those who want to operate legally. We will, however, continue to remain intolerant of those who operate without authorization and do not provide resources for the health.
Coljuegos estimated that Colombian illegal gambling organizations fail to pay around $1,5 billion annually in exploitation rights.
Coljuegos has extended to August the deadline that operators have to take action to promote responsible gambling in Colombia. Coljuegos’ Resolution 7 624 2024 gives operators who have an active concession agreement with Coljuegos until August 1 to implement RG actions in Colombia.
What type of gambling is allowed in Colombia?
In 2001, the Colombian Congress passed Law 643, which enacted Gambling Act.
In 2016, Colombia was the first country in Latin America to introduce a law regulating igaming, the Egaming Act. In 2016, Colombia became the first country in Latin America to regulate igaming with its Egaming Act.
Taxes are 15% for operators who have a Return-to-Player (RTP), or 83%, of their stakes. Tax contribution for those operators with RTP rates above 83% is at 17%.
