According to Foresight News, Indonesian authorities have raided ten locations suspected of stealing electricity from the national grid to mine bitcoin over the Christmas weekend. In the raids conducted in Medan, North Sumatra, officials discovered 1,314 bitcoin mining machines and detained 26 individuals. The suspects are believed to have stolen power from state-owned electricity company PLN's power lines over the past six months, causing a loss of approximately IDR 144 billion ($10 million).
Under Indonesian law, electricity theft is considered a criminal offense, punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to double the value of the unpaid electricity charges.
