Mexico seized 300 illegal cryptocurrency mining machines, suspected of stealing electricity from a hydropower station

According to Decrypt, the Mexican federal prosecutor, in conjunction with the Navy and Puebla state police, conducted a raid on a property in the remote mountainous area of Tlaola, Puebla, seizing approximately 300 cryptocurrency mining machines, as well as transformers, medium-voltage terminals, and satellite internet antennas.

The investigation revealed that the mining operation illegally tapped into the grid of the Nuevo Necaxa hydroelectric power station, and authorities have filed charges for "theft of electricity." Currently, forensic accountants are tracing the source of the hardware funding, and money laundering suspicions have not been ruled out. Data from the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission shows that from January to July 2024, non-technical electricity losses reached up to 6,346 gigawatt-hours, valued at approximately 13.8 billion pesos (about 817 million USD).