Irish Criminal Assets Bureau Unable to Access Drug Dealer's $378 Million in Seized Bitcoin

Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is holding Bitcoin seized from a drug dealer in 2019 that it has been unable to access, even as its value soared to €345 million ($378 million).

The Bitcoin was worth around $56 million when it was seized from Clifton Collins in 2020, following a ruling from Ireland’s High Court that it was the result of criminal activity.

Collins was ordered to hand the Bitcoin over to the CAB under the Proceeds of Crime legislation after police uncovered a cannabis growing operation in his home. A freezing order was placed on it to prevent it from being transferred.

But according to a recent article in The Irish Times, the CAB has been unable to access the Bitcoin, which is held in 12 wallets, for the past four years—during which time the price of Bitcoin has risen from around $9,000 to current levels above $62,000.

Collins first invested in Bitcoin using profits from his drugs business in 2011, when the cryptocurrency traded between $0.30 and $29. It ended 2011 trading at $4.72.

He claims to have hid a document containing the seed phrases for his BTC wallets in a fishing rod case at a rented property in Co Galway. Collins claimed that the case was lost following a break-in at his home, though a clear-out of the property following his arrest could also have caused the loss of the document.

According to the CAB’s annual report, €1.2 million ($1.3 million) was recovered from Collins after assets including 89 Bitcoin along with “a fishing boat, a Gyro plane, metal detector, electric bicycle and various motor vehicles” were confiscated.

Seized Bitcoin

Bitcoin seized in criminal cases has proved a lucrative stream of income for governments around the world.

Earlier this year, the German government sold some €2.6 billion ($2.9 billion) worth of Bitcoin seized in a money laundering investigation, causing the price of Bitcoin to drop as it flooded the market.

The U.S. government is set to sell a $4.4 billion stash of Bitcoin seized from the dark web marketplace Silk Road, after the Supreme Court this week declined to hear a case concerning its ownership.

In 2020, the U.S. Marshals sold 4,041 BTC forfeited as a result of multiple criminal, civil and administrative cases. Then worth around $40 million, the stash would have been worth over $250 million at today’s prices.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.