A joint operation by the National Police and the National Electricity Administration (ANDE), Paraguay’s state electricity utility, seized 25 machines used for cryptocurrency mining from a residence in Ciudad del Este, in the Alto Paraná department.
The operation took place at 7:30 a.m. on September 12, in sector IV of the Paraná River waterfront area, near the dock, after residents reported intense noise coming from the property. Officers from Substation No. 13 in the Remansito neighborhood determined that the noise was coming from a locked room and requested ANDE technicians to inspect the installation.
The owner was identified as 29-year-old Elieser Luciano Rojas Campuzano. According to the police report, he authorized the teams to enter and remove the equipment. Engineer Víctor Paredes and other ANDE technicians took part in the inspection, which was conducted under police supervision.
The case was referred to prosecutor Alcides Giménez of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the seizure of the devices was recorded. The sources consulted do not state, at this point, whether formal charges were filed, anyone was arrested, or an estimate was made of the electricity consumption attributed to the installation.
The incident shows how noise complaints can lead to the identification of cryptocurrency-mining facilities, an activity that uses computers running continuously and can cause high electricity consumption. In Paraguay, ANDE takes part in operations to detect clandestine connections and other forms of irregular use of the grid, although the seizure of the equipment alone does not establish that electricity theft occurred.