Mexican federal prosecutors, the Navy (SEMAR), and Puebla state police raided a property in Sierra Norte, Tlaola, seizing 300 crypto mining rigs. The joint operation in the municipality of roughly 20,000 residents severed illegal connections linking the mining hardware to the Nuevo Necaxa federal hydroelectric plant complex.
In addition to the hundreds of rigs, officers seized operational support equipment including transformers, medium-voltage terminals, and an active satellite internet antenna. Reports from media outlets El País and Mexico News Daily noted that the seized machines relied on graphics processing units (GPUs). This specification indicates that the operators were focused on mining altcoins, given that GPUs are no longer viable for mining on Bitcoin’s main network.
Loud Noise That Alerted Authorities
Security Minister Francisco Sánchez confirmed that the remote geographic location was deliberately chosen by the operators to conceal their activities. However, Sánchez stated that the massive energy consumption and the sheer noise generated by the equipment were the main factors that ultimately raised law enforcement’s suspicions.
Sánchez affirmed that the Tlaola mining site is part of a broader network exploiting Sierra Norte’s hydroelectric infrastructure, following discoveries of similar operations in neighboring states. This energy theft aligns with records from Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), which logged 6,346 gigawatt-hours in non-technical losses between January and July 2024, valued at 13.8 billion pesos or $817 million.
Who Funded the Operation?
Mexican authorities have not ruled out money laundering offenses behind the procurement of these machines. Forensic accounting teams have begun tracing the identities of individuals or groups who funded the purchase of the mining hardware in Tlaola.
Three other illegal mining operations were reportedly dismantled by authorities in the Puebla and Tlaxcala regions in 2025. A year earlier, a mining farm discovered near the Nuevo Necaxa dam was even suspected of being operated from property owned by a local electrical workers’ union.
Similar practices in other jurisdictions have prompted comparable crackdowns, such as Malaysian authorities seizing more than 75,000 mining rigs last year following $1.1 billion in electricity losses. Brazilian police also took similar action by shutting down illegal operations in the Rio de Janeiro area. Source: Decrypt.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
