Irish police have gained access to a long-dormant Bitcoin wallet linked to convicted drug dealer, Clifton Collins, recovering cryptocurrency worth about $35 million, authorities have said.
Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), working with Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, said it successfully accessed one of 12 wallets associated with Collins, seizing 500 Bitcoin that had been out of reach for years due to lost access codes.
In a statement, the Criminal Assets Bureau said:
“The Criminal Assets Bureau, supported by our partners at Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, confirm the seizure of approximately €30 million in cryptocurrency.
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.
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.”
CRYPTO CRIME | International Law Enforcement Bodies Take Down CyberCrime Infrastructure, Confiscates Associated Crypto
Collins, who was jailed in 2017 for cultivating and selling cannabis, had purchased roughly 6,000 Bitcoin between 2011 and 2012 using proceeds from his drug operation and distributed the funds across multiple wallets. Back then, the Bitcoin was worth only a fraction of its current value.
Authorities previously said the wallet keys were written on paper and hidden inside a fishing rod case, which was later lost after his arrest, leaving most of the funds inaccessible.
In the years since, the bureau has effectively been sitting on the asset, hoping advances in technology would lead to the 12 wallets being unlocked. During that period, the value of the seized bitcoin has soared to $390 million.
In late 2020, Collins reportedly surrendered assets worth ~$1.4 million to the State as they were the proceeds of crime. They included $1.1 million in bitcoin, which he had the key codes for.
Blockchain data showed the recovered wallet transferred the 500 Bitcoin to an institutional platform marking the first movement of funds tied to the case in nearly a decade.
Despite the breakthrough, the majority of the seized holdings, estimated at thousands of Bitcoin, remain locked, with officials saying access depends on recovering or reconstructing the missing keys.
CASE STUDY | How Spain’s Largest Crypto Exchange Pivot from Retail to Infrastructure for Banks and Law Enforcement is Proving Successful
Sign up to BitKE for the latest crypto crime updates globally.
Join our WhatsApp channel here.
Follow us on X for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
_______________________________