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Chinese customs agents stopped a man last week who was attempting to smuggle in 160 CPUs and 16 cellphones strapped to his body via duct tape (thanks videocardz). China’s customs agents are apparently on a bit of a PC part hot streak, as this news comes after agents intercepted nearly 6,000 GPUs being smuggled into the country. That load was valued at well over $3 million.
The CPUs the man taped to himself were mostly Intel 11th and 12th Gen Core chips. Authorities claim his walking posture looked “abnormal” after entering the no declaration channel at the Gongbei Port, which gave him away.
Once he was inspected, they found the CPUs and phones taped in strips around his waist and calves. The CPU that was shown in the close-up is an Intel Core i5-12600KF which retails for about $300. Added up, that’s close to $50,000 worth of processors.
The screen captures released by the Chinese Customs Office show the man being approached by an agent and the resulting bust of the contraband laid out on a table. Trying to smuggle CPUs isn’t a rare thing; a man was caught with nearly 300 CPUs taped to his body using the very same method last year.
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The statement released on Weibo (machine translated) by the Chinese Customs Office recaps the arrest in detail and reminds the public that items brought into the country should be for your own use and “a reasonable quantity.” Smugglers face stiff fines and even prison time for smuggling goods into China.
“[Walking CPU] On March 9, the gate customs seized an entry case of a passenger hiding a central processing unit (CPU). At about 1 a.m. that day, a man named Zeng entered the country through the customs “no declaration channel” at the travel inspection site of Gongbei Port. Customs officers found that his walking posture was abnormal and stopped him for inspection. After further inspection, customs officers seized a total of 160 CPUs and a total of 16 folded mobile phones tied with tape on the inner side of his calf, waist and abdomen. At present, the case has been further processed in accordance with relevant regulations. The customs reminds that the luggage items that individuals bring in and out of the country should be limited to their own use and a reasonable quantity, and should be subject to customs supervision. For those who evade customs supervision by means of personal concealment or item storage, which constitute smuggling, the customs will investigate legal responsibility according to law.”