Irish authorities have recovered another 500 BTC from wallets tied to convicted drug trafficker Clifton Collins.
Summary
- Irish authorities recovered another 500 BTC, raising total seized funds from Collins wallets to 1,500 BTC.
- Arkham data shows roughly 4,500 BTC still tied to dormant wallets linked to the case.
- Europol’s cybercrime unit helped investigators access wallets once believed unreachable due to lost private keys.
The Criminal Assets Bureau said in a Facebook statement that the latest seizure was made with support from Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre.
The latest recovery brings CAB’s total in the Collins case to 1,500 BTC. The bureau said the Bitcoin was identified as proceeds of crime. It marks the third 500 BTC recovery from the same wider wallet cluster this year, after earlier seizures in March and May.
Case traces back to lost private keys
The Collins case became known because the Bitcoin was long believed to be out of reach. The Irish Times reported in 2020 that Collins bought most of the coins in late 2011 and early 2012 using proceeds from cannabis sales. He later split more than 6,000 BTC across 12 wallets, with 500 BTC in each wallet.
According to that report, Collins printed the private keys on paper and hid them in the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case at a rented home in County Galway. The property was later cleared after his arrest, and the fishing gear was believed to have been taken to a dump. The keys were then viewed as lost.
Europol support remains central
Europol has helped Irish investigators in the wallet recovery work. The Irish Times reported in March that CAB accessed the first 500 BTC wallet with support from Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre. Garda Headquarters said at the time that Europol provided “highly complex technical expertise and decryption resources” for the operation.
As previously reported, Irish authorities first accessed a lost Bitcoin wallet tied to Collins in March. That wallet held 500 BTC and was part of the same 6,000 BTC stash. The recovery was notable because the funds had been viewed as locked for years.
Dormant wallets still hold large value
As crypto.news reported in May, the seizure later reached 1,000 BTC after CAB and Europol secured a second 500 BTC wallet. At the time, Arkham said another 500 BTC had moved from the Collins-linked entity after years of inactivity.
The latest move raises the total known recovery to 1,500 BTC. Onchain data from Arkham still tags wallets linked to Collins and shows remaining activity tied to the entity. Lookonchain also said in a July 2 post on X that another 500 BTC had been deposited to Coinbase Prime, while about 4,500 BTC remained in wallets linked to the case.
Recovery keeps case under scrutiny
The Collins case remains one of Ireland’s best-known crypto crime recoveries because the funds were tied to old private-key storage and years of inactivity. Each wallet recovery reduces the amount still considered dormant, but a large balance remains under watch by onchain analysts.
The case also shows how law enforcement agencies are using technical support and blockchain tracking in asset recovery. CAB has not fully explained how investigators gained access to the latest wallet. For now, the confirmed recoveries show that Bitcoin once viewed as lost may still be reachable when agencies combine legal seizures, cybercrime support, and onchain tracing.
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