Together with energy company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the Malaysian police seized 61 bitcoinminmining machines. The campaign took place at nine locations in Manjung, where illegal electricity connections were discovered. These practices caused considerable damage to the electricity grid and brought security risks.
The operation was performed after reports of large -scale electricity theft. According to police chief ACP Hasbullah Abdul Rahman, the raids came about thanks to information from the Criminal Criminal Investigation Department and the TNB technical team. Due to the simultaneous performance, all locations could be effectively tackled.
Great financial damage due to power theft
During the raids, the police not only seized the mining machines, but also nine WiFi modems, nine routers and various cables and equipment. Research showed that the buildings were used for intensive bitcoinmining where illegal connections were used.
The damage for TNB is great. According to Abdul Rahman, the theft per location led monthly to losing thousands of Ringgit. “All machines were running day and night, which not only ensured extremely high power consumption, but also caused malfunctions in the electricity supply in the area,” he said.
Fire hazard and stricter enforcement
In addition to financial damage, the illegal wiring led to dangerous situations. The unsafe connections created a fire hazard, which endangered not only the buildings involved but also the environment. These activities are contrary to the rules for electricity supply and are therefore severely punished.
The case is being investigated on the basis of Article 427 of the Criminal Code, which relates to malicious damage, and Article 37 (1) of the Electricity Provision Act 1990, which prohibits messing with electrical installations. The police emphasize that there will be strict action against illegal bitcoinmining and power theft.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/politie-pakt-illegale-bitcoinmining-aan-61-machines-in-beslag-genomen-in-manjung/
