Thailand: Police raid massive illegal bitcoin mining operation

Authorities in Thailand reported on Friday that they had raided a large-scale illicit bitcoin mining enterprise in the nation and taken nearly $2 million worth of equipment.

The massive computer farms that mine cryptocurrency like bitcoin use a lot of electricity, which has led to strong criticism of the industry’s climate impact.

Police raided a closed ice business in western Samut Sakhon city on Wednesday after receiving information about unusually high electricity consumption.

“We found up to 690 (bitcoin-mining) units,” Samut Sakhon City Police chief Pichetpong Changkaikhon told AFP, worth an estimated $1.9 million (69 million baht).

Other seized items included an electrical transformer, laptops and aluminium cables.

A Myanmar national was arrested on site with police still investigating a number of figures, including the factory owner and property leaseholder.

Pichetpong said there had been other raids targeting bitcoin mining in the city, but nothing on this scale in one location.

“There were other places raided too for illegal bitcoin mining but we found only 40 to 50 bitcoin mining units,” he said.

Last week, officers from the Technology Crime Suppression Division raided two locations -– part of a Chinese temple in Ratchaburi and a warehouse in Samut Songkhram — where 187 and 465 bitcoin mining machines were seized respectively, worth an estimated $5 million.

Illegal bitcoin mining is on the rise in Thailand but requires huge amounts of electricity, with police often tipped off to the activity by massive power surges.

AFP