Mexican authorities have dismantled a massive cryptocurrency mining operation that allegedly stole electricity from infrastructure connected to a federal hydroelectric complex.
The clandestine facility was discovered in Tlaola, a municipality in the northern highlands of Puebla, according to a Sept. 8 report from EL PAÍS.
The operation reportedly contained around 300 specialized computers used for cryptocurrency mining.
Authorities are now investigating whether similar mining farms are operating elsewhere in the region.
According to EL PAÍS, the facility had been illegally connected to infrastructure associated with the Nuevo Necaxa hydroelectric dam. Investigators seized transformers, medium-voltage equipment, approximately 300 computing units and working satellite internet antennas during the raid.
The enormous electricity consumption and noise generated by crypto mining operations can push their operators toward isolated areas.
Authorities had reportedly received information about suspicious activity near the dam before identifying the abnormal electricity connection.
The authorities are also expanding their search into nearby municipalities and potentially neighboring states.
Investigators have not yet established exactly what cryptocurrencies were being mined, but there is a possibility that the mining farm could have been connected to money laundering.
According to EL PAÍS, Mexican authorities dismantled three other cryptocurrency mining operations around Puebla and neighboring Tlaxcala during 2025.
A global problem
Malaysia has faced the problem on a much larger scale. The country’s national utility, Tenaga Nasional, lost roughly $1.11 billion to electricity theft linked to cryptocurrency mining between 2020 and August 2025, according to Malaysia’s energy ministry.
In the United States, for instance, police in Massachusetts discovered an unauthorized cryptocurrency mining setup hidden in a crawl space beneath Cohasset Middle/High School.
