Greg Abbott said he was directing the Texas Rangers to investigate the bulk purchasing of lottery tickets that likely enabled a buyer to gobble up, with help of courier companies, "nearly every possible number combination" to the Lotto Texas drawing in April 2023 for a $95 million jackpot to win the eye-popping prize.

The Texas Lottery Commission’s executive director said Monday he would move to ban couriers from buying lottery tickets after finding that state law bars the practice, an about-face from the agency’s yearslong claim it had no control over such third-party sales.

Courier services take orders online or through an app, purchase lottery tickets from a retailer and send a scanned copy to the buyer.

“This is not the way the lottery was designed to operate,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, after the $83.5 million ticket was sold through an Austin retailer owned by a lottery courier.

The Texas Lottery Commission is targeting couriers who buy large numbers of tickets to rig the lottery. This crackdown follows accusations that couriers help big money groups guarantee wins by purchasing every possible combination.