Irish national police have successfully accessed one of 12 Bitcoin wallets connected to a convicted drug dealer, years after the wallets were confiscated and their access codes were believed to be permanently lost. Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) announced on Tuesday that it had gained access to and seized a cryptocurrency wallet containing 500 BTC, valued at more than $35 million. The operation was carried out with assistance from Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre.
According to the CAB, Europol hosted operational meetings at its headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, and provided what it described as highly complex technical expertise and decryption resources that were critical to the operation’s success. The agency’s support proved essential in overcoming the cryptographic barriers that typically make accessing a locked Bitcoin wallet without its private key impossible. Public-key cryptography generally renders funds permanently inaccessible when a private key is lost.
The wallet belongs to a set of 12 that collectively held 6,000 Bitcoin once owned by Clifton Collins, a drug dealer who was sentenced to five years in prison for growing and selling cannabis. The Irish Times reported that the access codes to the wallets were lost after the paper on which they were printed disappeared. Blockchain intelligence platform Arkham had labeled the wallet in question as “Clifton Collins: Lost Keys,” and recorded a transfer of 500 Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime on Tuesday, more than a decade after the coins were first deposited.
Arkham lists Collins as controlling 14 addresses with total holdings of approximately 5,500 Bitcoin, valued at more than $391 million. Collins was arrested in 2017 after police searched his vehicle and discovered a quantity of cannabis. Authorities say he used proceeds from his drug operation to purchase 6,000 Bitcoin in late 2011 and early 2012, distributing the holdings across 12 separate wallets.
Collins stored the wallet keys on a single sheet of A4 paper, which he concealed inside the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case at his rental home. Following his arrest and sentencing, his landlord cleared out the property and discarded his belongings. Collins later claimed the fishing rod case had been stolen before the landlord entered the premises, complicating efforts to recover the keys.
The CAB and An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police service, have been contacted for further comment on the operation. The successful decryption of one wallet raises questions about whether authorities may attempt to access the remaining wallets, which together are estimated to hold a substantial portion of the original 6,000 Bitcoin. The case highlights the growing role of international law enforcement cooperation in recovering digital assets tied to criminal activity.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
