Russia Hunts Down Mobile Crypto Miner Using Thermal Drone in Dagestan

In a scene that feels more like a spy thriller than a routine power inspection, Russian authorities have captured a fugitive crypto miner operating a mobile Bitcoin farm hidden inside a van. The elusive miner had been evading detection for months across Dagestan, one of Russia’s southern republics, until officials used a thermal vision drone to expose the vehicle’s heat emissions and track it down.

The discovery marks a new phase in Russia’s technological crackdown on illegal cryptocurrency mining, which has proliferated despite nationwide restrictions. According to officials from Dagenergo, the local branch of the Rosseti power distribution network, the improvised mining farm was concealed inside a Gazelle van and equipped with 72 mining rigs. The vehicle was parked near the village of Tashkapur, in the Levashinsky district, and had been siphoning electricity directly from the grid.

Authorities estimate financial losses from the operation at around 1.5 million rubles (approximately $18,500). Investigators also discovered that the van’s power meter — which logged more than 152,000 kWh of consumption — had likely been tampered with to conceal true energy usage.

What made the arrest possible was the use of drones fitted with night vision cameras, a surveillance method increasingly deployed by Russian energy companies to detect illegal mining setups. “We began using thermal imaging drones this summer to spot unauthorized mining operations hidden in basements, attics, and remote buildings,” said Magomedshapi Shapiev, acting director of Dagenergo.

Shapiev revealed that this was not the first offense by the same individual — the suspect had previously been caught operating a similar illegal mining facility just a year earlier, with equipment confiscated during an earlier raid.

Crypto mining has been officially banned in Dagestan since early 2025, part of a broader campaign to reduce energy theft and stabilize power distribution. The republic is one of several Russian regions that imposed full or partial bans after subsidized electricity prices made them hotspots for both amateur and industrial-scale miners.

Though Russia legalized mining in 2024, the law requires anyone consuming more than 6,000 kWh per month to register with the Federal Tax Service (FNS) and pay associated taxes. In practice, however, enforcement has proven difficult. Officials estimate that less than one-third of miners have complied, depriving the state of an estimated $120 million in annual tax revenue.

The confiscation of the “mining van” in Dagestan follows a string of similar raids, including one in Irkutsk, often dubbed the “mining capital of Russia,” where one of the country’s largest unlicensed mining operations was dismantled in mid-October.

As energy costs rise and regulation tightens, Russia’s underground miners are adapting — some by hiding rigs in remote barns or apartments, others, as Dagestan’s latest case proves, by turning to wheels and mobility. But with drones now patrolling the skies, the game of hide-and-seek between rogue miners and regulators has entered an entirely new dimension.