Authorities in Thailand conducted a raid on an illegal mining operation following residents’ complaints about frequent power outages, as reported by SCMP.
On August 23, police and provincial officials searched a house in the city of Ratchaburi, the administrative center of the province of the same name.
“We found bitcoin mining rigs, indicating that people were using this house to run a farm and consuming electricity for which they had not fully paid,” said district chief security officer Jamnong Chanwong.
His team attempted to enter the building the previous day, but security prevented them. They returned with a warrant and discovered that most of the equipment had been removed.
According to the police officer, the house had been rented for about four months, but power outages due to network overload began in July when the operation allegedly reached full capacity.
The officer noted that no arrests were made during the operation.
This marks the fourth raid against illegal cryptocurrency mining activities in the province since the beginning of the year.
In Thailand, bitcoin miners are considered producers and must pay the appropriate taxes, yet the scale of illegal operations in the sector has been growing for many years.
Earlier in August, Malaysian law enforcement arrested seven individuals for bitcoin mining using stolen electricity. They also seized assets worth about $57,000.
In July, authorities in the country reported that cryptocurrency miners had stolen electricity worth approximately $725 million over five years.