Another episode of “Chinese customs” with a nice haul. Customs officials have seized a shipment of no less than 780 Intel processors. Where was the seizure made? Always the same: the Gongbei border crossing between Macau and Zhuhai in China!
780 Intel CPUs seized by Chinese customs!
This time, the smugglers were clearly more clever than in previous cases. Indeed, wrapping goods around your legs or waist is not the most efficient way to do it. Between the strange gait and the distorted silhouette, it doesn’t take more than two brains to figure out that it won’t work… But some have tried it anyway. Anyway…
This time, the smugglers tried a vehicle-type approach… But as with the GPUs hidden in the fresh lobster or the SSDs in the scooter, they got caught. For this attempt, we learn that the smugglers hid the goods in a cross-border bus. In the engine compartment, we found a cache designed to hold the 780 processors. Unluckily, the bus passed inspection and imaging revealed something suspicious… Lost.
Unfortunately, we won’t know the details of the cargo, however, the processors appear to be rather recent. According to our colleagues, they are twelfth- or thirteenth-generation Intel CPUs, and given the shape of the IHS, that seems to fit. Still, the amount of the loss is significant: $137,341, and that’s starting to add up.
Once again, the lure of profit is what motivates the smugglers since, remember, VAT in Hong Kong is 0% compared with 13% in China. On resale, this means a small capital gain that quickly becomes substantial – just imagine 780 processors. However, we’re curious to know what penalty is incurred in this kind of situation.
