BANGKOK, Thailand – The Central Investigation Bureau conducted a raid on nine sites linked to illegal bitcoin mining operations with modified electricity meters, resulting in an estimated 10 million baht in damages, Nov 12.
Police Major General Montri Teskhan, Commander of the Crime Suppression Division, and Mr. Udomsak Temwong, Deputy Governor of Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) Operations, announced the arrest of suspects and confiscation of over 100 bitcoin mining machines. The illegal operations caused financial losses to the state estimated at over 10 million baht.
In September, authorities received reports about a suspicious commercial building rented by a young man who installed CCTV cameras but rarely occupied the property. Suspecting it could be used as a base for a phone scam gang, authorities investigated and discovered that the first suspect had rented this building, while the second suspect rented six other commercial properties and owned two more residential buildings, totaling nine locations.
After examining the first suspect’s bank account, authorities found transactions exceeding 40 million baht from January 2023 to September 2024, indicating illegal activities. PEA also discovered unusually high electricity usage at these properties that did not match the monthly electricity bills, raising suspicions of meter tampering to power the bitcoin mining equipment.
On November 7, police and PEA officers raided the nine sites, finding all properties set up with bitcoin mining machines, cooling systems, and modified electric meters. Upon inspection, the meters had signs of tampering, causing them to underreport electricity usage.
Authorities seized 111 bitcoin mining machines, seven desktop computers with monitors, 10 internet routers, and 10 modified electricity meters. The suspects were charged with theft and confessed to the crime. The first suspect admitted to hiring the second suspect to tamper with the meters, reducing electricity bills to between 500-2,500 baht per month instead of the actual cost of around 1 million baht.
The operation lasted over a year, accumulating over 10 million baht in damages. Major General Montri added that the secondhand bitcoin mining machines, priced at 40,000-60,000 baht each, could legally generate up to 666,000 baht monthly, but the high electricity cost of 1 million baht led the suspects to tamper with the meters to cut costs. (TNA)
