Brazilian Police Discover Secret BTC Mining

The world is filled with crypto mining farms, but not all of them are deemed illegal. And thanks to the Brazilian police, one of these companies has been caught – albeit in an unexpected way. Here is everything about it in a nutshell.

The Accidental Discovery

According to the official report, the authorities were successful in making an arrest in connection with appears to be a suspected digital currency laundering scheme. It turns out that the country’s State Department of Drug Trafficking (Denarc) chanced upon a proper where cryptos were being mined. This narrative was possible simply because the police were on a trail of a suspected drug trafficker.

Considering the fact that the mining of Bitcoin, the world’s leading crypto, is not necessarily popular in the involved region, it is a surprise definitely that the police stumbled upon a BTC mining farm. Even more so, their cursory search resulted in the revelation of at least 25 solitary Bitcoin mining machines, all of which were ran 24/7. These rigs, in particular, were also powered by top-notch software and hardware. According to the authorities, all of these were estimated to be aroundt R$ 250,000 (about $63,000).

The ‘Not So Legal’ Business

The report added that the authorities were successful in finding the supposed resident of the property. It turns out that the was a man who said that he only rented the entire place and was solely operating a BTC mining business. He added that this business, in particular, was merely a personal investment nothing more.

Although his operation was deemed to be legal, he was eventually given charges for the illicit use of electricity. The police explained that the man was using stolen electric power, which he used in running his set of high-powered mining rigs around the lock.

Apparently, upon further search courtesy of the police, a pistol was recovered and it came with an erased serial number. There was also a motorcycle with cloned number plates. The police eventually suspected that there was more to this suspected man, who could work as a lookout for a drug trafficking or money laundering group. As such, the authorities decided to seize all of his equipment, especially since they are believed to be smuggled from China. It was also suggested that the individual had a long criminal history. Not only did he smuggled drugs before, but he also murdered a police officer.