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Colombia’s gambling regulator Coljuegos has ordered the blocking of more than 46,000 illegal betting websites since 2022, underscoring a sharp escalation in enforcement against unlicensed online operators.
Coljuegos president Marco Emilio Hincapié said the measures target structures that offer wagers outside the authorised regime and are part of an unprecedented campaign against illegal gambling.
Hincapié stressed that the current administration has been markedly more aggressive than its predecessors in tackling unlawful betting activity, citing the regulator’s dedicated artificial intelligence centre as a key driver of enforcement.
According to the president, “never before had an administration tackled illegal gambling with such force. From Coljuegos, and through our Artificial Intelligence Centre, we have optimised the detection and blocking orders against unauthorised portals, and we are working hand‑in‑hand with the ICT Ministry so that internet service providers can effectively block any page that operates or promotes bets outside the law. While previous administrations issued around 9,000 blocking requests, we have multiplied that figure by five in just four years; illegal operators have never had it so bad.”
In total, Coljuegos has now issued 55,658 website blocking requests, with the vast majority of these actions taken in the last four years. The regulator’s collaboration with the ICT Ministry is intended to simplify procedures with ISPs and ensure that blocks are implemented quickly and consistently at network level, limiting the ability of offshore or unlicensed sites to reach Colombian consumers.
Alongside the crackdown, Coljuegos is urging players to wager only with the 15 operators licensed by the authority. Hincapié argued that betting via approved portals both enhances protection for player data and stakes, and channels revenues to social programmes. He noted that legal gambling contributes directly to healthcare funding for less advantaged Colombians, reinforcing the regulator’s message that choosing authorised sites supports broader public policy objectives as well as individual consumer safety.
