Mexican authorities have discovered a cryptocurrency mining operation in the Sierra Norte region of Puebla state, the fourth such facility found in the area since early last year. Located in a remote mountainous area near a rarely used gravel road, the operation was identified by police due to its unusually high electricity consumption, which is necessary to power hundreds of specialized computing units. Officials suspect the facility may be used by organized criminal groups to launder illicit funds. The facility contained 300 graphics processing units (GPUs), 80 medium-voltage terminals, and eight satellite antennae, all designed to generate virtual currencies like Bitcoin. David Saucedo, a Mexico-based security analyst, said the scale of the operation shows that drug cartels are becoming more technologically advanced, requiring not only technical knowledge but also significant financial backing from established criminal networks. According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, global illicit cryptocurrency transactions more than doubled in 2025, with addresses linked to criminal activity receiving an estimated $154 billion, up from $59 billion the previous year. Much of this increase is attributed to transactions aimed at evading international sanctions, including those involving sanctioned governments. Caio Motta, a Latin American specialist at Chainalysis, explained that such operations are often located in areas with cheap electricity or under the control of organized crime, which allows for electricity theft and the establishment of large-scale mining infrastructure. Electricity is the largest cost in cryptocurrency mining, and the process of creating a single unit of virtual currency has become more resource-intensive. The University of Cambridge's Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index estimates the cost of minting one Bitcoin at nearly $45,000, which would still result in a substantial profit when sold at current prices of around $78,000. Samuel Leon, an energy theft expert at Mexico's Iberoamericana University, said that if the Puebla operation was stealing electricity, the main costs of the operation would be minimal. Mexican authorities are investigating whether the crypto farm was siphoning power from a nearby hydroelectric dam. The Sierra Norte region, known for its dense forests and scattered communities, provided an ideal hiding place for the operation. Two people from nearby communities, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, told Reuters that the noise from the facility could be heard up to one kilometer away. The crypto farm was located roughly twice that distance from the nearest village. Three similar crypto farms were discovered last year near the nearby hydroelectric dam in northern Puebla. Local authorities are working with neighboring states to investigate the possibility of more hidden operations. Similar raids have occurred in Brazil, the U.S., and Southeast Asia, including a large Bitcoin mining operation in Thailand that spanned five provinces. According to Motta, the increasing use of cryptocurrencies is expected to lead to record levels of crypto-related crime in the coming years, as virtual currencies become more accessible, even as investigators improve their ability to trace online transactions.