Police in Australia forcibly entered a home suspected of being a marijuana grow-op. Instead of the illegal plants, authorities found a perfectly legal bitcoin mining rig setup.

When is a bitcoin miner NOT a bitcoin miner? When it is a marijuana grow-op. At least that’s what police thought they would find when they forcibly entered a home in the South Australian town of Adelaide while executing a search warrant.

Homeowner Rob Butvila – who was not in residence at the time of the raid – arrived home to find his home in shambles and a literal calling card that read:

Occupant – your address has been entered by police. Constable Davies called today but could not find anyone present. Will you please call at Elizabeth Police Station and bring this card with you or telephone no. 82039586

Keystone Cops Damage Home in Questionable Search for Marijuana

According to The Advertiser, police executed the warrant based on information received from the public. Their suspicions, Butvila said, were further raised when they noticed the solar panels, ventilation fan, and security camera on the exterior of his home.

Butvila discovered extensive damage upon arriving home, including “gates, doors and fence panels removed and broken.” He also noted that police did not bother to re-secure the home when they left, which – to add insult to injury – resulted in the theft of a hard drive and damage to his security system:

To make things worse they left the place wide open and a hard drive is now missing and the security camera cable has been cut.

In a video walk-through of the damage done to his home, Butvila noted:

SAPOL used brutal and destructive force, kicking in doors … to find cryptocurrency mining computers where they expected to find a marijuana grow room.

When Butvila phoned the police station to ask about damages, he claimed that he was hung up on.

For their part, SAPOL (South Australia Police) in Elizabeth acknowledge the damage, but insist that they left the home “just as secure as when he [the officer] found it”.

Butvila told The Advertiser that he will be submitting estimates for the repair of the damages to the police and that he is considering legal action.

Was this just a legitimate mistake or did the police overreach? Should they have to pay for damages? Sound off in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons