Key Takeaways
- Tlaola police followed strange noises and power use and found 300 GPU miners humming away deep in Puebla’s jungle.
- Reuters says the 300-GPU setup tapped hydro power, hinting that illicit crypto mining is getting more elaborate.
- Puebla has now seen a total of four hidden mining sites since 2025, raising the question of how many more are out there.
300 GPU Miners Found Deep in the Puebla Jungle
Organized crime networks are leveraging enterprise-grade mining infrastructure in the jungle to mine crypto assets. Reuters reported on the news on Saturday and noted that the secret crypto mine was illegally tapping the Nuevo Necaxa grid.
Journalists Sarah Morland and Daniel Becerril from Reuters explained that nearby neighbors close to the mountain forests of Puebla could hear a mechanical whirring sound. The people living in the remote municipality of Tlaola disclosed that the region had logged an inexplicable surge in local electricity demand.
So, the police were notified and found 300 GPU mining machines at a facility deep in the jungle, illegally wired into the nearby Nuevo Necaxa hydroelectric dam. Morland’s and Becerril’s report said the operation also had a custom pedestal transformer and eight Starlink-class satellite internet antennas.
Fourth Hidden Crypto Mine Discovered Since 2025
This specific discovery was uncovered this past week, and Mexican federal and state law enforcement officials worked on the case. The site was located a bit more than two miles away from the nearest village, and it was only accessible by using a difficult gravel road.
While it is not confirmed that a Mexican gang was behind the facility, analysts like David Saucedo told Reuters that cartels “appear to have reached a new level of sophistication. Authorities say the mining farm is the fourth undercover operation in Tlaola discovered in the Sierra Norte forest region since the start of 2025.
The area has become a hotspot for stealing hydro-powered electricity from the dam, and policing is sparse in the jungle terrain. While the noise was discovered by nearby neighbors, typically, the mountainous area swallows both the noise of cooling fans and the sight of heavy delivery trucks. Alongside Mexico, stealing electricity to mine digital assets is also quite prevalent in Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, Iran, China, and, more recently, in Paraguay.
The news follows the recent Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación member who was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for laundering drug money via crypto transfers. Analysts and law enforcement think that cartels have stepped the laundering game up a notch with these hidden, jungle mining operations.
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