The Municipality of Querétaro will keep “constant” watch over businesses running slot machines in the state capital and will keep working with the state prosecutor’s office on operations against them. Miguel Ángel Torres Olguín, the city’s secretary of government, said so on 26 October 2026.
No bulletin, order or other official document accompanying the announcement could be found. For now it consists of remarks to the press, reported the same day by local media.
What the city said
Torres Olguín acknowledged that slot machines are a federal matter, but said the city’s Inspection Directorate has joined operations run by the state prosecutor’s office (Fiscalía General del Estado). “There is permanent communication with the state prosecutor’s office and we have taken part in these operations,” he said, according to CódigoQro.
He said the city took part in closing two businesses, one in Santa Rosa Jáuregui and one in the city centre. CódigoQro places those actions within the past month; another local outlet describes them as happening “in recent days.” The city gave no figures on machines removed, arrests or fines.
According to CódigoQro, Torres Olguín also said the city has received no citizen complaints about slot machines.
Federal ban and court injunctions
Article 12 of the regulations to Mexico’s Federal Gaming and Raffles Law bans slot machines “in any of their forms,” and Article 10 of the law requires local authorities and police to cooperate with the Interior Ministry (Segob) in enforcing it.
In August, Samuel Mena Stadelmann, Segob’s representative in Querétaro, said the federal gaming directorate (DGJS) had received complaints, mostly from the capital, including some “from the municipality.” He explained that the DGJS has no office in the state and that most machine owners hold amparos (court injunctions), which makes follow-up harder. It is unclear whether he meant complaints filed by the city itself, which could explain the gap with the city’s current claim of no citizen complaints.
CódigoQro, which has followed the issue since August, saw businesses operating slot machines at the Central de Abastos wholesale market and on calle Ezequiel Montes during its own reporting rounds.
In recent months the largest seizures in the area have been federal. In September, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) seized 45 machines and four properties in Querétaro and El Marqués. In mid-October, press reports described an FGR raid in Santa Rosa Jáuregui, with counts ranging from more than 50 to around 80 machines. It could not be confirmed whether the Santa Rosa Jáuregui closure the city mentioned is that federal raid or a separate state action. The centre operation has not been confirmed by any other source.
What it means for operators and affiliates
Street slot machines are expressly banned under federal rules. They are not part of the licensed casino market or of authorised online platforms, and commercial and editorial content should make that distinction clear.
The city’s announcement comes with no new resources, targets or deadlines. It is a statement of intent, not a new measure. In practice, enforcement in Querétaro still depends on FGR and state prosecutor raids, with the city in a supporting role, while the DGJS contends with injunctions and has no physical presence in the state.
For the regulated industry, the thing to watch is whether this coordination produces measurable results: counts of machines removed, penalties, or a clear local channel for complaints. Until then, illegal street supply will keep operating alongside the licensed market. National coverage in 2026 has linked these machines to organised crime, which underlines the value for operators and affiliates of keeping a visible separation between their business and that circuit.
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