EDSA manager Mariana Gómez Zuluaga said that, according to figures from the National Police, the Colombian department leads the list of illegal activity.
Colombia.- Unauthorized gambling activities in the Colombian department of Caldas continue to be a major concern for authorities. Mariana Gómez Zuluaga, manager of the Departmental Company for Health (EDSA), said that Caldas tops the list of illegal gambling in the country and referred to the controls being carried out in the region, in a conversation with the local media La Patria.
Gómez Zuluaga stated: "There are departments that are more critical due to their idiosyncrasies and their way of addressing the issue of gambling, but Caldas tops the list of illegal gambling in the country, according to figures from the National Police. She also referred to the most affected areas: "And there are some municipalities that become a hotspot: La Dorada, Villamaría, Chinchiná, Palestina. Similarly, there are municipalities where we do not have that alarm, for example Marulanda."
She also said that they need to work a lot on civic education, telling people that when they buy an illegal gambling ticket, there is a risk that it cannot be claimed.
The manager of EDSA conveyed that they are dedicated to carrying out a very rigorous inspection process. "Within our mission, it is definitely to control and inspect illegal games. So that anyone who today in the department plays an illegal gambling ticket or an illegal raffle can be inspected, supervised, and prosecuted. Both those who engage in illegal activity and those who buy. Those who acquire it are also committing a criminal offense," she told the local media.
She also explained that it is "a crime that leads to intramural sanctions, which means imprisonment, but also the person is attacking public health. Because the resources from making a gambling ticket go directly to the health system, both national and departmental."
On the other hand, Gómez Zuluaga said that in 2024 EDSA recorded the largest transfer in its history, $14000m, for the health of the people of Caldas.
In 2024, as a result of the pact for legality signed between Coljuegos and the Government of Caldas, the formation of the inter-institutional committee to combat unauthorized gambling activities in the department was formalized.
The committee is led by the Departmental Company for Health (EDSA), and will include other entities such as the Lottery of Manizales, the concessionaire Susuerte, the National Police, the Attorney General's Office, the Technical Investigation Corps, the Mayor's Office of Manizales, among others.
