Spanish Police Seize €400,000 in Crypto Hidden in Wall Thermometer During Manga Piracy Raid

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Spanish National Police have arrested three people in Almería and shut down what they describe as the largest Spanish-language manga piracy platform, seizing two USB drives containing cryptocurrency wallets worth more than €400,000. Officers found the drives concealed inside a wall-mounted thermometer during a search of the main suspect’s home.

Officers Recover Two Crypto Wallets Stashed Inside a Wall Thermometer

During the search in Almería, officers discovered what they described as a complex technological network used to maintain and operate the platform. Two USB drives hidden inside a wall thermometer held cryptocurrency wallets with more than €400,000, approximately $467,000, in digital assets.

Because the wallets were stored offline, they could not be accessed remotely or frozen through an exchange. Police have not disclosed whether they obtained the private keys or confirmed access to the funds. The drives are in the custody of investigators while the case moves through Spain’s judicial system.

The Site Earned €4 Million Over a Decade Through Pornographic Pop-Up Ads

The site had been operating since 2014, offering free unauthorized access to a large volume of works protected by intellectual property rights. Police said the platform earned more than €4 million, generated exclusively through advertising.

The monetization system relied on pop-up windows that appeared every time a user interacted with the site, whether browsing, selecting content, or continuing to read. Most of the advertising displayed was pornographic, and police noted the social problems this created given that many of the users were minors.

The platform had established itself as the leading source of Spanish-language manga piracy, with millions of monthly visits and significant international reach across the Spanish-speaking market. Police said it caused serious harm to rights holders, publishers, translators, and the cultural industry as a whole.

Investigation Traced the Operation to Almería Over Nearly a Year

The investigation began in June 2025 after agents identified a platform illegally offering access to manga content at scale. The probe traced the operation to Almería, where officers also discovered the main suspect was developing a new complementary website. Police intervention prevented that site from launching.

All three suspects have been handed over to judicial authorities as alleged perpetrators of a continuing crime against intellectual property. The platform’s closure generated widespread attention on social media, with posts reaching tens of thousands of interactions, reflecting what police described as the site’s high penetration and popularity.