The National Police carried out a “lightning” operation against betting shops selling numbers for illegal games such as “pale” in Santo Domingo and Santiago. Most of the shops closed in Santo Domingo are in the east of the capital along the Avenida San Vicente de Paul. Not only were the shops closed, but their owners, the so-called “kingpins” (pejes gordos) of the illegal games were arrested and thousands of pesos, together with firearms, were confiscated.
In Santiago, similar betting houses offering numbers on pale, caraquita (from the Venezuelan national lottery) and “aguante” lotteries were raided and closed.
31 May – 6 June 1996