Brazil has set up a dedicated unit inside its Federal Police to pursue illegal betting and the manipulation of sports results. It is called the Division for the Repression of Illegal Betting and Sports Manipulation (DRAME). The trigger was the ban on fixed-odds betting introduced in September. Since then, taking such bets at all is treated as illegal.
Before the ban, the illegal label applied to operators without a licence from the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA/MF). Those companies held more than 40% of the market, even though regulation had been in force for 22 months. The prohibition now also covers bookmaking and online gambling operations that were previously licensed. DRAME sits under the General Coordination for the Repression of Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (CGLA), which reports to the Directorate for Investigation and Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (DICOR). Analytical support comes from the Betting Analysis Service (SEAAP).
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security signed the restructuring order on 9 October. It was published in the official gazette on 13 October and signed by minister Wellington César Lima e Silva. This is the first Federal Police unit created specifically for betting. Police chief Andrei Rodrigues had initially proposed separating the fight against illegal betting from the fight against result manipulation; the approved structure combines both. No new staff positions are created. The heads of DRAME and SEAAP are drawn from serving officials. The money laundering directorate gained its own coordination, and the asset recovery function was raised to coordination level. The force also reassigned 46 positions and functions, and betting investigations previously ran through the Betting Base. A consumer protection department and a digital rights coordination were set up separately. The unit handling cases before the higher courts was placed directly under DICOR and strengthened with three investigative departments. For operators, the signal is to check their arrangements. The risk of criminal proceedings has risen.
Based on material from Yogonet International.
