Illegal Lotteries Are Beating Governments at Their Own Game
Nimble new rivals are threatening official sweepstakes, and charities are losing out.
A worker from Costa Rica’s Junta de Protección Social prepares for the draw at the national lottery in San José.
Photographer: Fred Ramos/BloombergLea en español
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In central San José, Marcelo Solano is searching for copycats. The police chief of Costa Rica’s capital cruises down streets where he carried out raids last year, closing shops that offered tickets for illegal lottery games. Now, many of them are back, blatantly advertising gambling that robs revenue from the state’s official charitable contests.