Raid Shuts Down Buenos Aires Card Club
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, police were able to shut down a popular and illegal card club this week. Authorities were tipped off due to the presence of an Instagram account with over 10,000 followers, which was maintained by the manager of the established gaming group. The account led them to a regular Thursday night card playing session, which now seems to have come to a permanent close, though the Club del Truco account is still online.
In Buenos Aires, a popular event for playing illegal cards has been raided by law enforcement. AJ Colores/Unsplash
Instagram leads to Truco club organizer in Buenos Aires
Based on evidence from the popular Instagram account and the raid itself, it seems that the Club del Truco organizer created a regular event at a brewery in Buenos Aires. The brewery, which is located in Caballito, a central neighborhood of the city, hosted the players on its premises, possibly also in exchange for a cut of the earnings.
Players were charged a fee of $20,000 AR, or $130 USD, to enter a competition of the card game Truco and could also win prizes. Truco is a variation of the game “Truc” and originates in Valencia, but is now played widely throughout South America. It is played with what is known as a Spanish deck of cards. It is often played with four players in teams, and involves betting and challenging with differently valued cards to win points against a rival team with each “trick” or move.
This competition of course happened without any official clearance by the LOTBA, or City Lotteries group. Thanks to a report to Buenos Aires’ Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF), police were able to take action and shut the tournament down. The investigation was in the works for some time before the raid.
During its investigation, a division of the city police followed the Instagram account, which features pictures of beer, cards, and illustrated images of Argentine actor Guillermo Francella. They gradually deduced where the games are organized (not only at the brewery, but at various venues around the city and province), and who organizes them.
After identifying the location of the next contest — the brewery on José Bonifacio Street — various agencies came together to participate in a raid of the premises. These included the Government Control Agency, LOTBA, and local law enforcement. Upon arrival, they discovered a total of 21 people participating in the games as well as the contest organizer.
There were additional staff and owners on premises as well. Police were able to confiscate various materials including $651 USD, documents detailing the illegal activity of the organizers, packs of playing cards, gaming tables, and a cell phone device belonging to the organizer.
For now, it is clear that the organizer will be held accountable for his participating in these illegal games, but not yet determined what consequences the players or business people involved with the brewery will face. The organizer, whose name was not disclosed, was charged based on Article 301 of the National Penal Code. This specifically addresses organizers exploiting unauthorized games of chance.
Those present were also documented by the police and will be investigated via the Federal System of Police Communications to see if this constitutes a first infraction or not. The brewery in Caballito was also closed temporarily.
The province of Buenos Aires and Argentina as a whole have not reported many such raids recently, though they are common throughout some neighboring countries. However, the government has been exploring education about money laundering by offering a seminar to interested parties in early October. ALEA, the Association of Argentine State Lotteries, has been instrumental in organizing various educational events for those working in connection to the country’s gaming industry.
