In keeping with reviews, Russian police have seized round 2,700 crypto mining gear from a website in St. Petersburg after a months-long probe into unusually low meter readings.
The haul included banks of machines, followers and different cooling gear, and the authorities say additionally they took away two transformers.
Giant Crypto Mining Rigs Seizure In St. Petersburg
Investigators say the operation began after vitality inspectors seen inconsistencies between recorded meter figures and precise energy use.
The location had been linked to the grid since March 2018. It ran, in keeping with officers, till August 2025. Police say three unnamed St. Petersburg residents had initially signed a contract to attach a industrial property to the grid greater than seven years in the past.
Russian law enforcement officials compelled their method right into a container full of tons of of lively crypto mining machines in the course of the raid, in keeping with footage shared by the Inside Ministry on Telegram.
Officers launched video of the raid on a ministry Telegram channel. The footage exhibits police forcing open locked containers and pushing a person to the ground as they searched the premises.
In a single container, rows of lively machines could possibly be seen, with followers operating and cooling methods in place. Different rooms held tons of extra rigs.
Meter Tampering And Expenses
Based mostly on reviews from the Inside Ministry, investigators imagine the suspects used technical information of the ability grid to change meter readings so the utility would present a lot decrease consumption than was truly used.
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The suspects behind the unlawful crypto mining rig operation have been positioned in custody and charged with inflicting “property injury by deception or abuse of belief,” prosecutors mentioned.
The ministry has not launched an estimate of how a lot electrical energy was taken or the monetary worth of the theft. Officers additionally didn’t say which digital cash have been being mined on the website. Police added they’re nonetheless searching for potential accomplices linked to the operation.
Smaller Networks Discovered In Different Areas
This seizure follows related discoveries throughout Russia and territories beneath Moscow’s management. In mid-September, authorities uncovered an unlawful cluster in what Moscow calls the Donetsk Folks’s Republic the place operators had linked 25 rigs on to the grid, bypassing meters. Officers reported injury estimated at 14 million rubles ($170,633) for that community.
In different areas, hidden setups have appeared underground or inside vehicles and vans. Areas talked about by officers embrace Dagestan, elements of the North Caucasus and Southern Siberia — locations the place low cost or poorly monitored energy has typically attracted clandestine miners.
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