British police uncover secret Bitcoin mine during raid on a drug lab

West Midlands Police in western England, during searches of a drug laboratory uncovered a cryptocurrency mining operation that had been stealing electricity “to the value of thousands of pounds”.

Using a drone, law enforcement spotted elevated heat signatures at the local industrial estate. They also found that the area was regularly visited by ‘suspicious individuals’.

They suspected they had found a cannabis-growing farm, and obtained a search warrant. Instead of drugs, there were ‘about a hundred’ computers.

“This is not at all what we expected! It had all the hallmarks of a cannabis-growing operation,” said Police Sergeant Jennifer Griffin.

No one was found inside, but investigators will continue the investigation. All equipment has been seized.

Earlier, a miner from Syktyvkar stole electricity worth 5.5 million rubles.

As noted, since the start of 2021 Rosseti has estimated the damage from illegal mining at almost 5 million rubles.

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