Operator News
Mexico – No more casinos will be allowed in the Mexican state of Yucatán
By Phil - 8 March 2018
The Secretary of the Interior (SEGOB) has said that no more licences will be granted in the State of Yucatán for the time being. Five gambling establishments currently operate in Mérida, the state capital.
Rubén Valdez Ceh, delegate of SEGOB revealed that although there might be interest in the opening of a number of other casinos in the southeastern state, no legal authorisation for their establishment had been granted.
Responding to questions revolving around the possibility of setting up a casino in the city of Tizimín, the federal official rejected this rumour saying, “so far there is no authorisation to open new casinos in Yucatán.”
The official went onto say that licences are granted on a national level, through various companies or franchises, which are permitted to have up to five or six permits in different states depending on the additional requirements established locally.
Valdez Ceh added that the Ministry was working in a coordinated manner on matters related to the prevention of crime and other offenses related to so call “minicasinos” which are present in side streets, shops or other premises. Minicasinos, which invariably house two or thee slot machines, have multiplied recently in public places according to local press reports with some of the machines reportedly taking bets of up to US$105 per day.
Operations began in the region to crackdown on illegal gaming last April. In August, local law enforcement officials confiscated 39 slot machines in the town of Maxcanú in the western part of the Mexican state. In November, the office of the General Prosecutor seized and confiscated 35 slot machines in the eastern city of Valladolid as they too were in violation Mexico’s Raffles and Gambling Act, which dates back to 1947.
