2,000 mining machines found in rural Harbin, stealing over a million yuan worth of electricity in two months

The electricity we use in our daily work and life is charged by the meter and is also monitored by the power industry. Not long ago, the Harbin Daoli District Electricity Bureau discovered abnormal electricity usage in a remote village during a routine inspection, and it is likely that someone was stealing electricity.

No new electricity users registered

The power consumption increased dramatically

The power department found the abnormal electricity usage in Minquan Village, Yushu Township, Daoli District, Harbin City. The electricity consumption here has increased sharply in recent times, but no new electricity users have been registered. After the inspectors went there to check, they quickly found out the reason for the abnormal electricity usage - someone was stealing electricity! So they reported the case to the public security organs.

Wang Haofei, an investigator from the Third Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Harbin Public Security Bureau: The scene was a factory building, where we found three transformers, two of which were 1,000 kVA and one was 800 kVA. The power supply was connected to an elevated pole on the roadside, and the electricity was stolen by jacking the pipe, which was two or three meters underground, and then pushed into the factory building.

Inspectors from the electricity department and public security police went to the scene together. They followed the direction of the cable and walked more than 300 meters. They found that the cable came out of the ground and extended into an unnamed factory building. Only then did they find the source of the electricity theft.

Wang Haofei, an investigator from the Third Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Harbin Public Security Bureau: A high-voltage detection and control switch was installed on the electric pole. After the power was connected and the voltage was transformed through three transformers, more than 2,000 Bitcoin, Dash, and Litecoin mining machines were connected below.

In the huge factory building, there are computer-like "mining machines" stacked from the basement to the ceiling. Mining refers to the computer calculation process. The calculated virtual currency can be sold to make money. Thousands of machines run almost 24 hours a day. The rated power consumption of each machine is different. There are 14 different specifications of mining machines on site.

Wang Haofei, an investigator from the Third Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Harbin Public Security Bureau: This type of mining machine consumes a lot of power, probably about 2,000 kilowatts per hour. Also, this one is relatively small, which is 300 kilowatts, so the noise when they are working is not particularly loud. If 2,000 of them were started at the same time, it would be as loud as an airplane taking off.

More than two months

The stolen electricity amounted to more than 1 million yuan

Investigators conducted electricity theft experiments on 14 mining machines of different specifications and calculated that the amount of stolen electricity in the two months from July to September 2018 was as high as more than 1 million yuan.

Wang Haofei, an investigator from the Third Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Harbin Municipal Public Security Bureau: We have identified several suspects. From September to December, we arrested five suspects. The amount involved in the case is now 1.19 million yuan.

The police found out that this case of electricity theft was organized and divided into two groups, including those who operated the theft at the scene, those who were responsible for installing the power supply, and investors and beneficiaries. The case is still under further investigation.

Wang Haofei, an investigator from the Third Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Harbin Public Security Bureau: Because electricity itself is also a commodity, the theft of national electricity should also be treated as a theft case, because it (the theft) has exceeded 100,000, it (is) a particularly large amount.

The law is like a net, with no loopholes left!