EIGHT MEN INVOLVED IN ILLEGAL BITCOIN MINING DETAINED IN TELUK INTAN

IPOH, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- Police arrested eight local men suspected of being involved in illegal Bitcoin mining activities around Taman Lagenda, near Teluk Intan, yesterday.

Hilir Perak District Police Chief ACP Dr Bakri Zainal Abidin said the arrests were made following up on a special operation carried out on Nov 5 to curb the activity.

He stated that the police also seized two four-wheel-drive vehicles, a Toyota Hilux and a Mitsubishi Triton, as well as 40 units of Bitcoin mining machines, which are believed to have been used in the activity of stealing electrical current.

"Interrogation revealed that all suspects, aged between 17 and 44, admitted to being involved in the activity. Five of the eight suspects have previous criminal records for various offences, while the other three have no records," he said in a statement today.

Bakri said all suspects have been remanded for three days starting today to assist investigations under Section 427 of the Penal Code and Section 37 of the Electricity Supply Act 1990 (Act 447).

On Nov 6, Bakri was reported to have said that they successfully busted an illegal Bitcoin mining operation during a raid at a premise in Taman Lagenda through an integrated operation from 2 pm to 6:30 pm on Nov 5, which was carried out together with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM).

Bakri added that 66 units of Bitcoin mining machines, several modems, and supporting equipment suspected of being used in the activity were also seized.

-- BERNAMA