Malaysian Thieves Drill Through Wall to Steal 85 Crypto Machines

Malaysian authorities have apprehended five men charged with stealing 85 bitcoin machines. The police captured the men in a police raid on Nov. 2.

The Sun Daily reports that four men and one woman rented a building in Seremban, Malaysia, adjacent to a warehouse storing the bitcoin machines. The five drilled through the concrete wall connecting the two buildings. All the suspects were friends without past criminal records, The Sun writes.

Worth $10,300 each, the machines were most likely bitcoin mining rigs, although local police did not specify.

“On Oct. 29, a shopkeeper lodged a police report following the missing of 85 bitcoin machines,” Seremban police chief Supt Mohd Said Ibrahim said in a press conference. “Subsequently, police conducted raids and arrested suspects, aged between 25 and 46 years.”

The raids occurred last Saturday night between midnight and 5:00 a.m. local time. Authorities confiscated a car, a four-wheeled vehicle and heavy equipment believed to be used for drilling through the concrete, the Sun added.

The suspects have yet to be sentenced.

Drill image via Shutterstock