If, in jurisdictions where gaming is regulated the online operators frequently find legal loopholes enabling them to remain in business, one can imagine that the field is wide open in Mexico where the federal gaming law dates from 1947. It is time for the arguments, accusations and discussions on gambling to cease and for a modern gaming law to be formulated. In the absence of such legislation, all and sundry can open up for business.

The present lack of control over virtual casinos and online betting has led to a proliferation of these businesses, and further recriminations over the betting licences granted by the ex Secretary of State Santiago Creel are pointless. Mexican legislators must move on and achieve a gaming law that will authorise casinos, both real and virtual, and properly regulate the flow of betting and money without serving the interests of individuals. Any profiting from gambling in Mexico must be by the country and its people.

As one Member of Parliament, Camerino Márquez Madrid, commented, “We have a grave problem with lack of control over the more than 200 betting centres, casinos and sportsbooks licensed recently by the Ministry, and we now find that Mexico is considered to be a paradise for online gambling.”

The criminal acts last month, when various gangs made precision planned attacks simultaneously on some casinos and a student was shot, are the result of Creel ‘democratising’ gaming before adequate rules and regulations were in place. Mexico has become a playground for these criminal elements as they take advantage of the chaos that presently exists in the gaming sector. There is no need for further studies and congressional commissions – Mexico needs a modern gaming law now. (E-07.09.07)

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