Ireland's CAB Recovers Another $38M in Bitcoin Tied to Cannabis Dealer
Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has successfully moved another $38 million in Bitcoin tied to a cannabis dealer named Clifton Collins. The transfer of 500 BTC, worth approximately $38 million at current prices, was made on August 28 from a legacy wallet created in 2016.
The funds were previously forfeited by Collins as part of his cannabis dealing operation and had been inaccessible for over a decade. According to blockchain parsers, this is the fourth recovery of Collins' Bitcoin by CAB, with a total value of $155 million recovered so far.
CAB has not officially confirmed how they managed to access the funds, but past recoveries have involved complex technical expertise and decryption resources. Collins had claimed that his seed phrase was written on paper hidden inside a fishing rod, which he said was at a house he rented. However, when police searched for the rod, it was missing.
The transfer of 500 BTC from the legacy wallet to Coinbase Prime has sparked speculation about how CAB managed to access the funds, with some suggesting that Collins may have had a backup seed phrase or that the fishing rod may have been found years later. However, the exact details remain unclear and are unlikely to be publicly disclosed.