Brazil has established a dedicated Federal Police division to investigate illegal betting and sports result manipulation, following a nationwide prohibition on fixed-odds betting that has expanded the scope of illegal gambling activities.
The Division for the Repression of Illegal Betting and Sports Manipulation (DRAME) will operate 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). A Betting Analysis Service (SEAAP) will support the division.
The move follows Provisional Measure No. 1.394/2026, issued on September 25, which prohibited fixed-odds betting. Previously, illegal betting referred to operators without authorization from the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA/MF), which accounted for more than 40% of the market despite 22 months of regulation. The ban now also affects previously authorized sports betting and online gaming operations.
The Federal Police restructuring was formalized under the Ministry of Justice and Public Security Ordinance No. 1.325, dated October 9 and published in the Official Gazette on October 13. Signed by Minister Wellington César Lima e Silva, it marks the first inclusion of a betting-specific unit in the Federal Police’s organizational structure.
The final arrangement differs from a proposal submitted by Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues, which envisaged separate divisions for illegal betting and sports result manipulation. The approved structure combines both functions.
The reorganization gives money laundering enforcement its own general coordination structure, while elevating asset recovery from a service to a coordination-level function. Federal Police leadership said the changes were intended to strengthen financial investigations into organized crime.
No new civil service positions or recruitment processes are involved. The DRAME and SEAAP leadership functions are classified as FCE 1.07 and FCE 1.05, respectively, and reserved for permanent civil servants.
The changes implement Decree No. 13.131 of September 30, which also reassigned 46 positions and functions from the Ministry of Management to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The Federal Police previously handled betting-related investigations through its Betting Base, established under DICOR/PF Ordinance No. 92 to address match-fixing and fixed-odds betting fraud.
Separately, the restructuring establishes a Department of Inspection and Prevention of Consumer Harm within the National Consumer Secretariat and a General Coordination for Monitoring and Inspection within the National Secretariat for Digital Rights. The Federal Police unit responsible for higher court investigations will also report directly to DICOR and receive three Special Investigation Divisions.