TV Azteca’s Bet365 & Betano, Gambling Websites Blocked in Mexico Following Money Laundering Investigation

ByDora Villanueva

This article by Dora Villanueva originally appeared in the November 12, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

As of Wednesday afternoon, bet365.mx and betano.mx, the pair of websites operated by TV Azteca subsidiaries that were blocked by the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of the Ministry of Finance as a result of a money laundering investigation, were still active on their desktop websites, although their access on mobile devices was blocked.

These websites, operating under the names Ganador Azteca, SAPI de CV and Operadora Ganador TV Azteca, SAPI, respectively, are among the 13 land-based and online casinos blocked by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit and the Security Cabinet for allegedly laundering money from illicit sources. Grupo Salinas itself identified its subsidiaries in the money laundering investigation.

The website bet365.mx operates in Mexico under permit DGJS/DGAAD/DCRCA/P-01/2018, granted to Ganador Azteca, SAPI de CV, a subsidiary of TV Azteca, when the Ministry of the Interior was headed by Alfonso Navarrete Prida. However, the site’s Mexican partner is 365 Group Limited, founded in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the century.

365 Group Limited, and the page in Mexico, operated by Ganador Azteca, is dedicated to online gambling, especially with sports betting.

Derived from that permit to Ganador Azteca, SAPI de CV, is also the business of Operadora Ganador Tv Azteca, SA de CV, which shares the tax address of the Grupo Salinas television network, but is in charge of the Betano brand and the betano.mx portal.

The website betano.mx states that Operadora Ganador is authorized and regulated under SEGOB Permit: DGJS/DGAAD/DCRCA/P-01/2018 and DGJS/723/2018. As well as by a recently issued Authorization Letter, “DGJS/3035/2025, dated October 9, 2025, valid until December 10, 2026”, as reported by betano.mx.

Upon checking this information, one finds a page from the Ministry of the Interior that only states it works with a browser that hasn’t been updated in at least three years. “In order for you to view the content of this section, we suggest you use Internet Explorer version 10 or 11,” it requests, in order to verify the permissions granted by this administration.

Both bet365.mx and betano.mx are part of the investigation carried out by the tax authorities regarding a network of casinos that are allegedly being used to launder money from criminal activities, according to the findings of the UIF (Financial Intelligence Unit) that will be formally taken to the Attorney General’s Office to begin the investigations.

According to what was detected by the Treasury, some of these establishments and portals with tax addresses in Jalisco, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California, State of Mexico, Chiapas and Mexico City made movements of millions in cash and transfers to several countries, including the United States, Romania, Albania, Malta and Panama.

When trying to download the Bet365 app from the Google Play Store, the message “This item is not available in your country” appears.