Well, if the police was asking for the private keys that protected my million-euro stash of drug money... I would have 'lost' them too. In that vein, I wonder if they keep an eye on the wallets, and for how long.
If I were in their position, I would sign up for one of those services that alert you when coins move. I run one [1].
I'd then set the alert to go to coldcases@police.ie saying "new evidence on case number xxxx". That way even if the current staff retire, it'll be followed up on.
It is plausible to run a service on a $5 VPS. Pay $120 ahead of time and you have it for two years. I don't know why you think it would be so fragile. It wouldn't be difficult to run locally either.
Pretty hard to own a VPS which has no external ports open, even if the software on it is years out of date. In fact, updating software is probably a bigger security risk than not doing so, because you never know when someone manages to package a malicious bit of code into a common debian package.
Also, if it did get owned, I'd just have to spend a few hours rebuilding it - no bitcoin wallets or anything to steal on there.
Sound like FUD, what reason do you have to think a VPS set up correctly would have such a high probability of being exploited? What numbers do you have that show this is common?
(Also, again, someone could easily run something locally)
Sparing himself from the old '$5 Wrench attack,' I see... well, goes to show you that Bitcoin does in fact work after all: it proves to be capable of averting confiscation, even if it means giving up (perceived?) ownership.
I'd like to believe people who amassed this much wealth in Bitcoin would have backups of backups etc... but I've heard too many goxxing like stories about people losing millions, and other similar exchange exit scams over the years.
The size of the keys is such that you could convert all of the matter in the solar system into a computer, and still not have enough compute performance to reasonably have a chance of recovering the key. People are a lot easier to break.
Don't make light of cannabis, it is a drug and like all drugs has side effects. Even moderate use can seriously retard and arrest brain development in teenagers and it can accelerate the onset of schizophrenia in those who are at risk. It's also been associated with lack of motivation, focus, bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety among a host of other issues later in life.
Fully grown adults should be able to choose to do what they want but people who peddle drugs to children deserve nothing short of the death penalty.