Irish Police Recover 500 BTC From Drug Dealer’s 'Lost' Stash

• 500 BTC worth approximately $35 million was moved from a wallet that had been dormant for a decade.
• The funds are linked to Clifton Collins, an Irish drug dealer who previously claimed the private keys were lost.
• Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), with support from Europol, is believed to have executed the recovery.

Activation of Dormant Funds

On March 24, blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence revealed that a wallet associated with Clifton Collins transferred 500 BTC to a new address. This wallet, which had been inactive since January 2016, subsequently distributed the assets across several dozen addresses. Approximately $13.5 million of the total was sent to Coinbase Prime.

Law Enforcement Intervention

Reports from The Irish Times indicate that the Garda Síochána (Ireland's national police) successfully gained access to the assets. The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) confirmed the seizure of 500 BTC, identifying them as proceeds of criminal activity. This operation was carried out with the assistance of Europol's cybercrime center. Although the police have not disclosed how they bypassed the lost security keys, this wallet is known to be one of 12 accounts managed by Collins.

The History of the 6,000 BTC Stash

The origin of the fortune dates back to 2011 and 2012, when Clifton Collins, then a beekeeper, invested roughly $30,000 in cannabis profits into bitcoin. By 2017, his holdings had grown to 6,000 BTC. To secure them, Collins printed the private keys on paper and concealed them in a fishing rod case at a rented property in County Galway. Following his arrest and a five-year prison sentence in 2017, Collins claimed the case was lost during a property clearing. The total value of his original investment is now estimated to exceed $427 million.