Local news outlet Zero Hora has reported that the Brazilian police have made an arrest, with the suspect in question thought to have been involved in a long list of crimes, including murder.
As reported, the State Department of Drug Trafficking (Denarc) in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul had been hot on the trail of a suspected drug trafficker when they chanced upon a house where Bitcoin was being mined.
Although Bitcoin mining itself wasn’t illegal, curious to inspect, the police entered the residence and found 25 Bitcoin mining rigs which were operating non-stop. All in all, the equipment was estimated at USD 63,000. When questioned, the man who claimed to be renting the building and operating the mining rigs as a personal investment was discovered to have been stealing electricity to operate the rigs.
Further searches also uncovered a pistol with a filed away serial number and a motorcycle with cloned number plates. This was enough for the police to take the house owner into custody, whereupon it was discovered that he had a long list of past offences, including links to drug trafficking and the murder of a police officer.
The police confirmed that the Bitcoin mining operation had nothing to do with the arrest. Bitcoin is increasingly popular in Brazil, with an expert recently insisting that the Bitcoin comparisons made to the Tulip Bubble were false and unwarranted.
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