High-Wattage Hijinks: How Bitcoin Miners Went from Clandestine to Clueless in Terengganu

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In a most dramatic display of modern larceny—the only thing missing was a fainting chaise and a glass of absinthe—Terengganu police and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) joined forces to swoop upon an alleged congregation of bitcoin miners, whose only real mining skill appeared to be burrowing through the nation’s patience (and power lines). The authorities, with all the panache of a Victorian detective, made off with 45 machines valued at RM225,000. One assumes neither bitcoin nor common sense was discovered at the scene. ⚡🛠️

Electric Dreams and Police Schemes: How the Law Put the ‘Mine’ Back in ‘Criminal’

A joint operation, rather melodiously dubbed Op Letrik (because ‘Operation Let’s Pay Our Bills’ was apparently too on the nose), paid a surprise visit to two exotic locales: Bukit Perpat, Hulu Terengganu, and Wakar Tapai, Marang. There, police, accompanied by the formidable SEAL unit of TNB—presumably in capes—liberated mining equipment and devices from a syndicate that adored electricity so much they simply refused to pay for it, according to a Malay Mail exposé and the ever-dignified Datuk Mohd Khairi Khairuddin.

Image source: malaymail.com

It transpires, according to the Malaysiacal Mail, that TNB’s SEAL—the only unit named like a badly conceived boy band—targeted these hotbeds of domestic delinquency to stem the bleeding of revenue. Evidently, the syndicate’s notion of discretion was to run industrial-scale miners in residential and commercial camouflage, siphoning electricity with the grace of an elephant in a teashop.

The operation uncovered enough stolen power to light a small revolution: RM36,000 worth monthly. One wonders if the miners believed bitcoin grows in underground cables. Unsurprisingly—perhaps even disappointingly—no arrests were made, though the authorities were left clutching a delightful assortment of illicit wiring, modified meters, and the lingering aroma of fried ambition. The suspects, sadly, had vanished into that old Malaysian cryptographic mist. Authorities now hunt the owners and mysterious syndicate members, so expect a sudden uptick in moustache-twirling individuals looking nervous in cafés.

The entire farrago now lands under Sections 379 (theft) and 427 (mischief) of the Penal Code, plus that ever-enchanting Section 37 from the Electricity Supply Act 1990. Should the culprits ever be found—though not so much as a single Satoshi has surfaced thus far—they may receive five years’ worth of government-sponsored reflection time, a fines ledger so steep it belongs in a Greek tragedy, or both. O, the ignominy.

With theatrical seriousness, Mohd Khairi asks helpful citizens to tattle on anyone with an excess of glowing computer fans and unusually bright windows after midnight. Meanwhile, TNB redoubles its audits—because, as Wilde might say, to lose money once may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose it to bitcoin miners looks like carelessness. 🔎💡

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2025-05-01 18:57