Three suspects have been arrested in China on allegations they were behind the hacking theft of bitcoin and Ethereum worth $87 million from multiple victims.

The story starts in March, when a man made a formal complaint to police in the city of Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. He said his computer system had been hacked and his cryptocurrency, valued at 100 million Chinese Renminbi ($14.5 million), had been stolen.

An investigation took police to Hunan Province in the south of China, where they managed to track down a man called Zhou. Following a raid on his premises, police then found further information related to a broad hacking campaign with more victims and the two other suspects who were subsequently arrested — Cui, a man from Beijing, and Zhang from Jilin province.

“Our bureau has not dealt with this kind of case before,” one officer was quoted Sunday as saying by the South China Morning Post. “It’s the first virtual currency-related case in Shaanxi.” The officer also reportedly said the technology involved made it easy for expert hackers to cover their tracks.

The three men arrested are alleged to have been studying hacking since their youth before going on to work for leading Chinese internet firms. Police said they were splitting the cryptocurrency they were stealing into smaller amounts, which they on sold and transferred to cover their tracks.

According to Bitcoin.com, the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies in mainland China has also led to a significant increase in crypto crimes and disputes. Quoting a recent report, the site said, “Chinese courts are overwhelmed by a growing number of such cases” and that “with unclear regulations and an ambiguous ban on ICOs and cryptocurrency trading, Chinese judges find it hard to resolve many of them.”

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