Spanish police say they uncovered a decade‑old manga piracy network in Almería — and €400,000 in crypto stashed inside a wall thermometer.
What happened
- Spain’s National Police shut down what they called the largest Spanish‑language manga piracy platform, active since 2014. Investigators say it offered free access to a vast catalog of copyrighted comics while monetizing traffic with aggressive pop‑up advertising, reportedly generating more than €4 million (roughly $4.3–4.7M) over the past decade.
- The site drew millions of monthly visits and, according to police, became “the main reference point for manga piracy in Spanish,” causing serious damage to publishers, translators and other rights holders. Some of the advertising used to monetize the audience included pornographic pop‑ups seen by users who were minors.
The raid and the crypto twist
- The probe began in June 2025 and traced the operation to a residence in Almería. During a raid, officers dismantled a “complex technological setup” used to host and monetize the platform and shut down the main domain plus a second site the alleged ringleader was preparing to launch.
- In a striking detail, investigators found two USB devices concealed inside a wall‑mounted thermometer. Those drives contained cold cryptocurrency wallets holding more than €400,000 (about $467,000) in digital assets.
Why the crypto matters
- Because the wallets were stored offline (cold wallets), they could not be frozen remotely via an exchange — a tactic increasingly used by piracy and cybercrime groups to put proceeds beyond the reach of conventional seizure methods.
- Police have not disclosed whether they recovered the private keys or have operational access to the funds. The crypto remains in the custody of investigators as the case moves through Spain’s judicial system.
Legal fallout and broader implications
- Three suspects were arrested and handed to judicial authorities on suspicion of continuous intellectual property offenses. Depending on how investigators trace the ad revenue and crypto flows, additional charges such as money laundering and tax evasion are possible.
- The case highlights how traditional media piracy is converging with crypto infrastructure and concealed hardware, forcing copyright and cybercrime units to treat cold wallets and hidden storage devices alongside servers and domains as routine evidence.
Bottom line
The Almería raid is a reminder that illicit online enterprises are increasingly mixing conventional monetization (ad revenue) with crypto-based storage and obscure physical hiding places — a trend that complicates seizure efforts and changes how authorities investigate digital piracy.
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