Law enforcers in Ireland did not get access to $ 57 million drug dealer bitcoins due to key loss

Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) cannot access 6,000 Bitcoins seized fromdrug dealer. He claims that he lost the private keys to the wallet, according to the Irish Times.

CAB confiscated cryptocurrency valued at$ 56.7 million at the current exchange rate for Dublin resident Clifton Collins, accused of drug trafficking, after the court found the assets a criminal proceeds.

Collins reportedly acquired bitcoins in2011-2012. In early 2017, he decided to split digital assets between 12 wallets for security reasons. For each of them he transferred exactly 500 BTC, and printed the private keys on an A4 sheet.

Collins hid the paper in an aluminum covercase for fishing rod, which was stored in a rented house. But after the arrest in the same year, a burglary took place in the house, and the landlord ordered the house to be freed from the things of the drug dealer.

Workers at a landfill confirmed that they saw a cover with fishing accessories. However, garbage from it is sent for burning to Germany and China, so it is now impossible to find anything.

Collins told CAB officers that he had long ago come to terms with the loss of cryptocurrency.

Witnesses, including the homeowner and those who helped split bitcoins into addresses, confirmed his testimony.

However, the accused had on other BTC accounts totaling EUR 1.5 million, to which CAB gained access. The bureau confiscated this cryptocurrency and 100,000 euros from Collins.

CAB specialists expect that in future technical progress will allow them to dispose of confiscated 6000 BTC. So far this is a record amount seized by the bureau for 25 years of existence.

Recall, the well-known Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff also lost access to his BTC as a result of the loss of private keys.