Gardaí have seized Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, valued at an estimated €30 million in an operation by the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) that was supported by Europol.
Approximately 500 Bitcoin were seized during the operation, each valued at about €60,000 under current trading prices.
While the seizure is not the largest quantity of Bitcoin seized by Cab, which constitutes the proceeds of crime, the bureau has been able to gain access to the Bitcoin wallets, unlike a previous case in which thousands of Bitcoin were seized. That means the cryptocurrency can eventually be sold and the proceeds of the sale realised by the State.
The bureau previously seized 6,000 Bitcoin – currently valued at €360 million – from an Irishman involved in the cultivation of cannabis crops in the Republic. However, Cab has been unable to access the Bitcoin, held in secure virtual wallets, meaning those wallets cannot be opened to enable the sale of the virtual currency.
During the latest operation, Cab was supported by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre.
“The Criminal Assets Bureau in collaboration with Europol gained access to and seized a cryptocurrency wallet containing 500 bitcoins, which are the proceeds of crime,” Garda Headquarters said.
“Europol hosted operational meetings at its headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands and provided critical support to Bureau investigators and analysts with the provision of highly complex technical expertise and decryption resources vital to the success of the operation.”
In the older case, involving the 6,000 Bitcoin that were seized but cannot be accessed, the virtual currency is held in 12 wallets and remains inaccessible seven years after they were seized.
The virtual wallets were uncovered by the Garda after an operation targeting cannabis cultivator Clifton Collins and seized in 2019, when valued at €53 million.
In the years since, the bureau has effectively been sitting on the asset, hoping advances in technology will lead to it being unlocked. During that period, the value of the seized Bitcoin has soared to €360 million.
Collins – a 55-year-old former beekeeper – grew cannabis crops in rented houses and sold the harvested drug to criminals, including in his native Crumlin, Dublin. He was jailed for five years.
He invested some of the proceeds of his drugs business in Bitcoin, when it was worth only a fraction of its current value, in 2011 and 2012.
As the virtual currency increased in value, Collins decided it would be safer to disperse his growing fortune across multiple virtual wallets that hold the cryptocurrency. He created 12 wallets for storing the Bitcoin and recorded the codes, or digital keys, for each in a document.
He then hid the document in a fishing rod case at one of his rented properties in Co Galway. In interviews with gardaí he claimed he never saw the case again after a break-in at his home. However, a clear-out of the property after his arrest may also have resulted in the loss of the document.
In late 2020, Collins surrendered assets worth €1.2 million to the State as they were the proceeds of crime. They included €1 million in Bitcoin, which he had the key codes for, as well as a two-seater Gyro aircraft, a camper van and a fishing boat.