Paraguayan police have detained three Argentinian women during a raid on a property in Luque, as part of an investigation into alleged violations of the country's gambling legislation.
Officers from the Economic Crimes Directorate's cybercrime unit carried out the operation in the Flor Itapuami district. The women were identified as María Eugenia Herbes, Micaela Yanina Sierra and Bianca Camila Ávila.
The investigation followed technical inquiries, surveillance and monitoring operations that provided authorities with grounds to search the property.
During the raid, investigators seized 18 mobile phones with active SIM cards, four laptops with their chargers and several documents.
The phones were sealed and placed in the custody of the Specialized Cybercrime Investigation Department, pending transfer to the Public Prosecutor's Office. The laptops and documents remain with the criminal investigation unit handling the case.
Authorities are expected to examine the seized equipment to establish how the suspected operation functioned and identify possible connections.
The raid followed another operation against suspected illegal online gambling activities in Asunción on October 29. In that case, authorities detained four people and seized more than 580 mobile phones, computers, cash and two luxury vehicles.
The Asunción operation targeted a business allegedly operating unauthorized online casino platforms under the cover of a call center.
Paraguay’s Executive Branch has recently awarded a five-year concession for the quiniela lottery game to two operators: Technologies Development of Paraguay (TDP) and Daruma Sam–Caproni–Dataforge consortium
