Federal and state forces dismantled an alleged clandestine cryptocurrency mining farm in the municipality of Tlaola, the Puebla State Public Security Secretariat (SSP) reported yesterday. No arrests were reported.
During the operation, authorities seized nearly 300 specialized computer units, an electrical pole-mounted transformer, approximately 80 medium-voltage terminals, and eight satellite antennas.
The agency stated that authorities are investigating whether the infrastructure was illegally connected to the electrical grid and whether the virtual assets obtained could have been used for money laundering.
The property was located in Tlaola, an Indigenous municipality in the mountainous Sierra Norte region, bordering Chiconcuautla and Huauchinango, approximately 230 kilometers from the state capital.
The predominant ethnic group is Nahua, and more than 60 percent of the population speaks the language. According to the 2020 census conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), the town has around 20,000 inhabitants and is governed by Simón Garrido Morgado of the PAN.
A cryptocurrency mining farm uses high-performance computers to process operations and generate digital assets, including bitcoin.
The purchase or mining of these assets is not prohibited in Mexico. However, authorities investigate possible crimes when electrical infrastructure is used without official contracts with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), or when digital resources are used to conceal money obtained through illegal activities.
Mining is the computing process through which transactions are validated on a decentralized network, such as the Bitcoin network, and added to a public record known as a blockchain.
In a statement, the SSP reported that the operation was led by the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), the Navy Secretariat (Semar), and state law enforcement agencies. It noted that authorities are analyzing whether the virtual assets generated through this infrastructure could have been used to give an appearance of legality to funds connected to illicit activities.
They added that the property and the objects found there remain under the custody of the competent authorities while investigations continue.
Authorities noted that rural and remote communities can be used to conceal the noise generated by the equipment, reduce surveillance, and facilitate irregular connections to electrical networks.
The institutions involved in the operation stated that it forms part of intelligence and investigative efforts aimed at dismantling the financial structures of criminal groups.
They announced that a press conference would be held today to provide more information about the case.
This is not the first time authorities have detected possible clandestine cryptocurrency mining farms in the state. In recent years, federal operations have intervened in properties where processors were allegedly installed irregularly in San Martín Texmelucan, San Andrés Cholula, the city of Puebla, and Tehuacán.
In April 2025, Puebla’s Secretary of Public Security, Vice Admiral Francisco Sánchez González, stated that three sites with these characteristics had been identified in Puebla and Tlaxcala, allegedly linked to electricity theft from the CFE.
One of them was dismantled at the facilities of the Mexican Electricians’ Union (SME) in Nuevo Necaxa, in Puebla’s Sierra Norte region. According to the information provided, the property was controlled by trusted personnel of Miguel Márquez Ríos, Secretary of Social Development and Welfare and a deputy representing the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM).
Source: jornada
