Cartel-Linked Bitcoin Mine Found Stealing Power in Mexico

Mexican police have shut down a clandestine bitcoin mining operation hidden in the mountains of Puebla state, which investigators suspect was running on power stolen from a nearby hydroelectric system.

Noise gave the site away

The ramshackle building sat beside a rarely used gravel road in the Sierra Norte region, roughly two kilometers from the nearest village.

Two residents of neighboring communities, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said the mechanical whirring carried for a full kilometer.

Inside, authorities found 300 graphics processing units, 80 medium-voltage terminals and eight satellite antennae, the fourth such farm uncovered in the area since early last year.

David Saucedo, a Mexico-based security analyst, said the setup would have required real technical expertise and money behind it:

“Drug cartels appear to have reached a new level of sophistication.”

Mexico’s federal attorney’s office declined to comment, citing an active investigation.

Electricity is the whole game

Chainalysis estimates that addresses tied to criminal activity received about $154 billion in 2025, up from $59 billion the year before, with much of the jump traced to sanctions evasion.

Caio Motta, the firm’s Latin American specialist, said mining sites tend to cluster where power is cheap or where it can simply be taken: