A drug bust in 2018 has paid off even more handsomely for a New Jersey county than most criminal forfeitures. The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office announced that the proceeds seized from an illegal drug ring in Long Branch back in 2018 were in a cryptocurrency that has appreciated in value over the past three years.
According to NBC New York, authorities seized bitcoin that, at the time, was worth about $57,000. Three years later, the value had skyrocketed to around $198,000. That’s quite a return on investment. The assets were taken because they were determined to be the proceeds of illegal activity, in this case, drug deals.
Cryptocurrency cashed in for $200K profit after N.J. authorities seized it during drug bust 3 years ago
Updated 3:17 PM;
At least one New Jersey law enforcement agency now has cryptocurrency in the bank.
On Monday, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said it is the first law enforcement agency in New Jersey to complete the forfeiture and liquidation of cryptocurrency assets, which were seized during an illegal narcotics distribution bust out of Long Branch three years ago.
In 2018, investigators executed search warrants at two Long Branch locations used by 39-year-old Giddel Gonzalez-Estrada, who has since pleaded guilty to drug charges in the case and is completing a 10-year prison sentence, officials said. Authorities seized three vehicles, about $32,000 in cash, 500 grams of cocaine, marijuana, a handgun and drug paraphernalia and also found financial documents which revealed Gonzalez-Estrada had Ethereum, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin worth $57,000 in a U.S.-base
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office completed the forfeiture and liquidation of nearly $200,000 in cryptocurrency from a single case in 2018, the office announced Monday.
That makes it the first state law enforcement agency to liquidate a cryptocurrency seizure, according to a release from the prosecutor s office.
It follows another first: the office became the first New Jersey agency to make cryptocurrency seizures, once in 2017 and the assets from the 2018 case, the office said.
In that latter case, the prosecutor’s office raided two places in Long Branch used by Giddel Gonzalez-Estrada. County detectives seized 500 grams of cocaine worth about $50,000, three vehicles, $32,000 in cash, a .22-caliber handgun and assorted material used for dealing drugs, the prosecutor’s office said.
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