The Los Angeles Police Division has recovered $2.7 million value of Bitcoin mining machines it alleges had been stolen by against the law ring in a heist on the metropolis’s airport.
The LAPD mentioned on April 22 that detectives from its Cargo Theft Unit, together with the town’s Port Police, the railroad-based Union Pacific Police, and the town’s Airport Police, arrested Oscar David Borrero-Manchola and Yonaiker Rafael Martinez-Ramos over the thefts.
Authorities claimed the pair are “outstanding members” of a South American crime ring tied to the theft and sale of stolen items in and round Los Angeles.
The LAPD mentioned searches of storage unit amenities within the San Fernando Valley, northeast of downtown Los Angeles, recovered $4 million value of stolen items, together with the Bitcoin (BTC) mining rigs taken from Los Angeles Worldwide Airport “because the cargo was about to be loaded onto a aircraft headed to Hong Kong.”
Detectives additionally discovered and seized over $1.2 million in allegedly stolen tequila, clothes, footwear, audio system, espresso, physique wash, and pet meals.
Borrero-Manchola and Martinez-Ramos had been booked at Van Nuys Jail within the metropolis’s northwest. Borrero-Manchola was cited for receiving stolen property and was launched, whereas Martinez-Ramos was arrested on a no-bail warrant.
The LAPD mentioned that “the investigation stays ongoing, and extra arrests might observe.”
Crypto mining rigs fetch prime greenback
The LAPD didn’t share the variety of machines it seized or what mannequin the rigs are, however a typical, current-model Bitcoin mining machine sells for between $3,000 to over $5,000.
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US regulation enforcement has recovered stolen crypto mining rigs prior to now. In July, the LAPD mentioned it arrested a person it alleged was in possession of stolen Bitcoin mining rigs value $579,000, seizing them from a cargo van and storage unit.
One of many largest thefts of Bitcoin mining rigs occurred in late 2017 and early 2018 in Iceland, the place a bunch robbed information facilities to make off with over 600 machines.
The rigs reportedly ended up in China, as simply three months after they had been stolen, Chinese language authorities seized an identical quantity and mannequin of mining rigs in Tianjin, a metropolis southeast of the capital, Beijing.
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