Irish Investigators Recover Additional 500 BTC from Collins Stash

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) confirmed the latest seizure, which follows two similar recoveries earlier this year in March and May. These funds originate from a massive cache of 6,000 BTC acquired by Collins between 2011 and 2012 using proceeds from cannabis sales. The case gained notoriety when it was revealed that Collins had printed his private keys on paper and concealed them inside the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case, which was later discarded at a dump following his arrest.

For years, investigators operated under the assumption that the keys were destroyed, rendering the Bitcoin inaccessible. However, collaboration with Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre has provided the technical expertise and decryption resources necessary to bypass this hurdle. While 1,500 BTC have now been successfully retrieved, onchain analysts at Arkham and Lookonchain estimate that roughly 4,500 BTC remain tied to dormant wallets associated with the trafficker. Recent data indicates that some of these funds have already begun moving toward exchanges like Coinbase Prime, keeping the case under active scrutiny by both law enforcement and the blockchain community.