Colombia: Coljuegos destroys 11,788 unauthorized gambling devices

Coljuegos has destroyed 11,788 unauthorized gambling devices as part of ongoing efforts to enforce regulations on games of chance.

The action aims to ensure that revenue from regulated gambling reaches Colombia's subsidized health system. Recently, Coljuegos revealed that land-based gambling operators in Colombia increased their contributions to the country’s subsidized healthcare system by 9.3% in 2025.

In recent operations, 673 devices were disabled and destroyed, including slot machines not connected to Coljuegos’ monitoring systems. Back in October 2025, Coljuegos destroyed 9,774 illegal gambling devices and seized 6,291 items, including slot machines, bingo consoles, poker tables and internet betting modules operating without licences.

Other items included sports betting terminals operating on unauthorized platforms and bingo equipment that had not paid required exploitation fees.

It is estimated that the destroyed devices were responsible for annual revenue losses exceeding $250bn for the health system. Revenue from legally regulated gambling is exclusively allocated to social security and healthcare programmes.

It’s clear that authorities across South America are intensifying action against illegal gambling in 2026, with police in Paraná, Argentina, suspending an amateur futsal match due to unauthorized betting and a court in Minas Gerais, Brazil, sentencing a merchant to five years for laundering money from an illegal jogo do bicho operation.

Hincapié stated: "By destroying these machines, we are sending a strong message to those who seek to profit illegally. 

“Every illegal machine we remove from the market represents an increase in the safety of gamblers and most importantly, a strong defense of resources for the health of Colombians.”