The police of Toledo started the investigation after the detection of high electricity consumption in the area. What began as an operation for environmental crimes in Lara, Venezuela, led to the seizure of 28 Bitcoin miners.
The National Police of Spain recently dismantled a Bitcoin mining farm in a villa in the Yeles municipality in Toledo. The agents found 111 cryptocurrency mining machines, refrigeration, and smoke extraction equipment in the facility.
The National Police said that they had identified a woman as the alleged perpetrator of the electricity fraud. She used an illegal connection to ensure the maintenance of the facility.
The investigation began after the detection of high electricity consumption in the area of the chalet. In addition, the house released a thermal emission much higher than that of a family home, said the police.
That type of facility requires high energy consumption to generate sufficient profitability. As that is too expensive, the woman under investigation used an illegal connection to the low voltage distribution network. A three-phase electrical connection allowed it to reach a high energy consumption illegally, the National Police explained.
Those who operated the Bitcoin mining farm had installed cooling equipment and thermal insulation panels on the walls. Those precautions might have contributed to the failure of the police to detect them earlier.
Although cryptocurrency mining is legal in Spain, few people do it due to the high electricity costs.
Police Seize Bitcoin Mining Equipment While Searching For Toxic Material in Lara, Venezuela
There was recently a new seizure of Bitcoin mining equipment in Lara state, Venezuela. A group of police officers raided a warehouse that was illegally processing toxic material. However, what began as an operation for environmental crimes led to the seizure of 28 Bitcoin miners, according to local media.
The police officers said that the owners had followed various procedures to transform solid, liquid, and gaseous materials. To do that, they needed to receive express authorization from the authorities.
In addition to the Bitcoin mining equipment, the authorities seized 52 tons of polyethylene, electrical transformers, vehicles, and a cell phone.
Although police officials determined it was an environmental crime, no one yet knows what will happen to the mining equipment.
Seizure of Bitcoin Miners in Venezuela
The Superintendency of Crypto Assets and Related Activities is the regulatory body for digital mining in Venezuela. Their presence is necessary to conduct police operations associated with mining equipment without a license.
In mid-June, the police seized equipment and arrested a group of operators, who got out of jail after the intervention of SUNACRIP. As the most recent case is not directly about the Bitcoin mining activity, nobody knows how the entity would proceed.
The seizure of equipment for mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has become common in Venezuela. Although there is a regulation on the activity, the authorities conduct operations to search for machines operating without a license.
By Willmen Blanco
