Chinese miner arrested for stealing power from oil wells

• The suspect stole power from Daqing Oil Field, one of China’s biggest oil wells.
• The head of the oil production at Daqing Oil Field reported abnormal electricity usage.

According to a report by a local Chinese media outlet, The Global Times, a Chinese man was arrested for trying to steal electricity to power his Bitcoin mining operation. The accused purportedly mined Bitcoins by taking power from one of China’s biggest oil wells. The suspect, known only by his surname Li, had been laying cables through deep fishponds to hide his operations and evade the electricity bill.

The head of the oil production at Daqing Oil Field reported abnormal electricity usage, which alarmed the police. Later, they found out 20 active Bitcoin mining rigs, which ripped off an electricity bill of nearly 50,000 yuan (roughly $7,000). Drones were used for an airborne investigation across an area of two kilometers.

Many cases similar to this were reported during last year including an incident in November when a Chinese headmaster was fired after a secret stack of crypto mining machines was found connected to his school’s electricity supply. In other news, six people were arrested were arrested in Tianjin for stealing power from the local power grid to fund their Bitcoin mining operations.