PC hardware smuggling incidents are at their peak, especially in China where customs authorities have caught another individual who was attempting to smuggle several CPUs. Chinese news outlets reported that the smuggler has attempted to transport several CPUs illegally, but got caught in the end.
Smuggling Attempts On The Rise in China, Several Incidents Reported By Customs Authorities With Total Valuation of $4 Million
China's People Daily reports that an individual tried to smuggle an estimated 306 CPUs and was intercepted at Qingmao Port by Customs when traveling to Mainland China. The source reports that the leading cause behind the interception was the "awkward" way the smuggler walked, which raised concern amongst the on-duty customs officers. This way of walking was apparently due to the weight of the CPUs since they were dispersed all around his body.
The smuggled processors were wrapped around the waist and legs of the individual through tape packaging. The surfaced images show that the smuggler wore a baggy outfit, probably to hide the bump caused due to the wrapping and packaging material. The details regarding the CPUs being smuggled aren't specific. The CPUs look like they are some form of Intel chip based on the fact that they feature capacitors on the back which isn't a characteristic of the newer AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs.
Now you may be wondering why individuals are making such attempts; the reason is pretty apparent here. It is related to the taxation policy within China since there is a 13% VAT on goods when traveling to Mainland China, whereas if you travel somewhere like Hong Kong, the VAT is zero. This results in higher profit margins for the local vendors, which is why such attempts are on the rise. A similar incident was recently reported, where a smuggler attempted to carry 420 M.2 SSDs.
Various attempts of smuggling hardware goods have reached a total valuation of $4 Million US in two years, reports China Customs. By the looks of it, the "group" involved isn't slowing down, and it won't take long before we see cases of high-tier components. Being smuggled across China.
