Spanish Police officers looking for a suspected marijuana plantation dismantled the first cryptocurrency mining farm in the province of Seville in the town of Santiponce. The farm managers used an illegal connection to public electricity and had powerful cooling and ventilation elements for its operation.
22 mining devices have been seized with an approximate value of 50,000 euros.
According to police information, investigations began on a possible indoor marijuana plantation that could be located in some stables located in Santiponce. Maintaining a marijuana plantation requires enormous amounts of electricity, and it seemed that those who had set up the farm would be stealing it from the public network.
But after carrying out the first inquiries, the agents realized that the existing indications did not correspond to the cultivation of marijuana, but rather that these facilities could be hosting a cryptocurrency farm of which there are hardly any records in Spain.
With this information, the stables were entered and searched. Inside, the police discovered modern facilities for mining cryptocurrencies.
In this place, 21 ASIC devices were seized, dedicated exclusively to Bitcoin mining, estimating their approximate value above 31,500 euros. The police believe that they could provide a monthly benefit of 2,500 euros.
A RIG mining device was also found, also used for mining cryptocurrencies, which could have an approximate value of 13,000 euros and could generate profits of 1,000 euros per month.
Video: Policia Nacional.
Illegal electricity connection
For the maintenance of the intervened equipment, and given the high temperatures that are generated, they used cooling systems and powerful industrial fans designed to move the hot air to the outside.
Outside the premises, an illegal connection to the electrical network was located to power the equipment, observing a very high consumption of amps, which, according to technicians from the electrical company, could generate a monthly electricity fraud of 2,000 euros.
Investigators who are analyzing the seized material to identify those responsible for these facilities believe that these activities were in an early phase of operation, which is why the police intervention would have dismantled the activity before it became profitable for the organization.
