[Ireland increases its cryptocurrency reserves with seized darknet Bitcoin]
Irish police have arrested three people in Dublin and seized cryptocurrencies worth €6.5 million ($7.1 million) on suspicion of facilitating illegal dark web and money laundering operations.
Ireland's National Cyber Crime Agency announced today that in addition to Bitcoin and Monero, a luxury watch worth €120,000 ($131,000) and two cars worth €220,000 ($240,000) were seized.
Police raided an address in Dublin on Monday and arrested two men (aged 23 and 49) and a woman (32). Two men have been charged with assisting a criminal organization to commit a serious crime and the woman has been charged with breaching the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Act 2021.
Detective Inspector Michael Mullen said the arrests were "the result of a highly complex investigation by specialist investigators into criminal activity on darknet markets".
According to the BBC, the older man and woman have been released and documents are being prepared for submission to Ireland's criminal prosecution service. However, the young man remains in custody under investigation.
The cryptocurrency seizure will add to the stockpile of proceeds of crime confiscated by Irish authorities. The UK also controls 61,245 Bitcoins worth $3.5 billion seized from illegal activity. Depending on the outcome of the case, the cryptocurrencies may be dealt with according to the law, including auctioning, liquidating or transferring them.
