Irish police, with technical assistance from Europol, have seized 500 Bitcoin worth over $35 million from a wallet linked to convicted drug dealer Clifton Collins. The wallet was one of 12 believed to hold a total of 6,000 Bitcoin purchased with drug proceeds; its private keys were lost on a missing piece of paper. This represents a rare instance of law enforcement successfully accessing a “lost” cryptocurrency wallet, with the funds transferred to Coinbase Prime on Tuesday.
Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) said it seized the wallet containing 500 Bitcoin with help from Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre. “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,” the bureau stated.
The wallet is one of 12 holding 6,000 Bitcoin once owned by Clifton Collins, according to a report. Collins was sentenced to five years in prison for growing and selling cannabis after his arrest in 2017.
A wallet labeled “Clifton Collins: Lost Keys” by blockchain platform Arkham transferred the 500 Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime on Tuesday. Arkham lists Collins as controlling addresses with total holdings valued at over $391 million.
Police said Collins purchased the Bitcoin in late 2011 and early 2012 with drug proceeds. He stored the private keys on a sheet of paper hidden inside a fishing rod case at his rental property.
After his sentencing, Collins’ landlord cleared out the home and discarded his belongings. Collins claimed the fishing rod case had been stolen before the landlord entered the property, according to a previous report.
