A rep for the ATF told us the operation was part of an “ongoing violent crime investigation” in conjunction with the NYPD.

As we reported … Woeltz, AKA the “Crypto King of Kentucky,” and Duplessie were arrested last month in NYC after allegedly kidnapping and torturing Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan inside a Manhattan townhouse. Prosecutors say the three men were partners in a Bitcoin venture that eventually went awry.

Per the prosecutors, Woeltz and Duplessie held Carturan against his will inside the townhouse for over 17 days to get him to give up the password to his Bitcoin wallet, but Carturan refused.

Carturan managed to escape barefoot and flag down a traffic agent on the street … he told police Woeltz and Duplessie cut his leg with a saw, peed on him and forced him to smoke crack cocaine from a pipe they held to his mouth.

TMZ obtained exclusive video of Carturan running down the street after the traffic cop, and then heading back towards the townhouse with the same traffic agent.

We also published other footage calling into question whether Carturan was held against his will at certain points, as police and prosecutors allege.

Photos show Carturan shirtless and smiling inside the townhouse, with a neck collar attached to a leash that a woman is pulling … simulating an S&M scene.