Mexico Seizes 300 Illegal Crypto Mining Rigs, Suspected of Stealing Hydropower Station Electricity

According to Decrypt, Mexican federal prosecutors, along with the Navy and Puebla state police, raided a property in the remote mountainous area of Tlaola City, Puebla State. Approximately 300 cryptocurrency mining rigs were seized on-site, along with equipment such as transformers, medium-voltage terminals, and satellite internet antennas. The investigation revealed that the mining farm was illegally connected to the grid of the Nuevo Necaxa hydroelectric power plant, and authorities have filed charges for "theft of electricity." Forensic accountants are currently tracing the funding sources for the hardware, and money laundering suspicions have not been ruled out. Data from the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission shows that non-technical electricity losses reached as high as 6,346 gigawatt-hours between January and July 2024, valued at approximately 13.8 billion pesos (about $817 million).