Mexican federal prosecutors, the Navy, and Puebla state police have seized 300 crypto mining machines from a property in the Sierra Norte region that was allegedly drawing electricity illegally from a federal hydroelectric complex, Puebla’s security ministry said on Sunday.
Authorities also took transformers, medium-voltage terminals, and working satellite internet antennas from the site in Tlaola, a municipality with roughly 20,000 residents. El País and Mexico News Daily described the seized machines as GPUs, a detail that would suggest the operation was not mining Bitcoin but coins that can still be mined with graphics cards.
In a post on social platform X, Puebla’s public security secretariat said a property allegedly used for cryptocurrency mining had been secured in Tlaola by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, the Navy, and state public security authorities. The agency said officers found electrical infrastructure, satellite internet equipment, and specialized machines used for generating digital assets.
Crypto mining is legal in Mexico, but prosecutors are preparing an electricity theft charge.
Probe centered on illegal power use near a dam
State Security Minister Francisco Sánchez told reporters that mining operations consume large amounts of energy and produce heavy noise, which is why operators often look for isolated and remote sites. “That is what alerted us,” he said.
Sánchez said investigators had been tracking reports of illegal mining in the region because of its proximity to the Nuevo Necaxa dam. He added: “There was a very large power connection.”
He described the seized site as part of a network exploiting the hydroelectric infrastructure in the Sierra Norte area. He also said the same activity is taking place in neighboring states and that searches are extending into nearby municipalities.
Money laundering angle still under review
Authorities have not ruled out money laundering. Local media reports said forensic accountants are tracing who funded the hardware, while the state government said it is examining whether assets produced at the site were used to launder proceeds of crime. Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission is also participating in the investigation.
The utility said non-technical losses tied to theft, meter tampering, and illegal connections reached 6,346 gigawatt hours between January and July 2024, with an estimated value of about 13.8 billion pesos, or $817 million.
Case follows earlier crackdowns
Three other mining operations were dismantled across Puebla state and neighboring Tlaxcala in 2025. Last year, another mining farm found near the same dam was allegedly operating from properties belonging to the electrical workers’ union.
Mexico is not alone in dealing with electricity theft linked to crypto mining. Similar enforcement actions have been reported elsewhere. Last year, Malaysian authorities seized more than 75,000 rigs in a power-theft case its utility valued at $1.1 billion, and Brazilian police shut down an illegal operation in Rio de Janeiro.