Mexico investigates electricity theft after busting a crypto mining farm

The discovery of a clandestine cryptocurrency mining farm in a remote area of Puebla has opened a new line of inquiry into large-scale electricity theft in Mexico. Puebla’s Public Security Secretariat said the main crime under investigation is energy theft and that authorities will expand their inquiries to neighboring municipalities in search of similar facilities. The announcement follows the dismantling of an operation consisting of some 300 computers used to mine digital assets that had been illegally connected to a dam forming part of a federal hydroelectric complex.

Francisco Sánchez, head of the state agency, said Monday that the mining farm was located in the municipality of Tlaola, in the northern highlands of Puebla, a small community of around 20,000 residents.

“This activity consumes a great deal of energy and generates a lot of noise, which is why operators seek out isolated and very remote locations. That is what alerted us,” he told reporters. “We had been tracking reports that this activity was taking place in that part of the state, particularly because of its proximity to the [Nuevo Necaxa] dam. There was a very large power connection.”

The official added that Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) is participating in the investigation, alongside Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the Navy. “The crime is electricity theft. This illegal activity is also taking place in neighboring states,” he said, without specifying which ones.