Man tries to smuggle 160 CPUs and 16 folding phones through customs by taping them to...

[midian182]

WTF?! It seems many people are willing to risk fines or even prison to avoid paying Chinese import taxes on tech goods. After the country’s authorities seized a shipment of thousands of XFX GPUs, a man was caught by customs in a separate incident smuggling 160 CPUs and 16 folding smartphones by attaching them to his body.

As reported by MyDrivers (via VideoCardz), a man named Zeng entered China on March 9 through customs’ Nothing To Declare channel at the travel inspection site of Gongbei Port. Officials noticed he was walking with an unusual posture and stopped him for inspection.

It turned out that the man had taped 160 CPUs and 16 folding phones to the inner side of his calf, his waist, and his abdomen, which would give anyone an unusual gait.

Courtesy of the China Customs Office

The processors in question were mainly from Intel’s 11th-gen Rocket Lake and 12-gen Alder Lake series; one of the images from the China Customs Office shows a Core i5-12600KF. Those alone would reach a value of tens of thousands of dollars, but he was also concealing 16 folding phones. No word their makes and models, but those in the photo look like Samsung Z Flip 3 devices, costing $900 each.

This isn’t the first time smugglers have attached CPUs to their bodies to avoid paying taxes. On June 16, 2021, Hong Kong customs officials found a driver and a passenger acting suspiciously. It transpired that they had attached 256 Intel Core i7-10700 and Core i9-10900K processors, worth 800,000 yuan or $123,000, to their calves and torsos using cling film (below).

The news comes soon after reports of Chinese authorities seizing a shipment of XFX GPUs worth around $3.15 million at a port on the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen that were purposely mislabeled.

While attaching electronic items to one’s body seems a good way to attract attention, it’s doubtlessly easier and more comfortable than putting 160 CPUs and 16 phones in the body's more traditional smuggling cavity.

Masthead: Renato Marques

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/93763-man-tries-smuggle-160-cpus-16-folding-phones.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Could you imagine trying to get through a metal detector with that much metal?

People nowadays are incredibly stupid. Customs is good at their job typically.

 

[mbk34]

Almost 40 years ago, I remember driving back to the UK from my first contract abroad. I'd made sure everything I packed was well under the limits so it didn't bother me when I was stopped in the nothing to declare queue. The customs guy just nodded as I showed him everything in the car and I was beginning to wonder why they'd stopped me. Finally he said "that's a really nice car" and the penny dropped! Ooops

 

[elementalSG]

"in the body's more traditional smuggling cavity" Might bring new meaning to "obtaining computer hardware from traditional channels."

 

[ypsylon]

What a plonker.

Really what smugglers need is to develop *** like Cartman of South Park fame. Remember Cartman's Silly Hate Crime episode, when he smuggled a theme park into a jail. Yeah... that's what you need. Everything else is just amateurish at best.

 

[Sausagemeat]

What’s more ridiculous, strapping tech to your body to get past draconian tech import rules or the rules themselves?

 

[wiyosaya]

In the immortal words of Forest Gump - "Stupid is as stupid does".

 

[terzaerian]

The story said he "entered China," which would seem to imply he had just gotten off a flight. My question is, where the hell is he coming from that didn't have an X-ray scanner? Wouldn't this have shown up on one?

 

[rmcrys]

What’s more ridiculous, [...] or the rules themselves?

Rules weren't made (at least most of them) just because. There are trading agreements and depending on the countries' interests, higher or lower taxes.
One example: if the country A produces and sells a lot to the country B, but doesn't want to buy nothing from the country B because it buys from country C then.... country B may increase taxes over countries' A merchandise to level up the money that goes outside (or even try that people don't buy so much from country A). That is just a very basic example.

 

[brucek]

What’s more ridiculous, strapping tech to your body to get past draconian tech import rules or the rules themselves?

Yeah, although with 160 CPUs involved, this is not a guy just trying to be able to afford a CPU for himself; this is a smuggler who is going to re-sell for profit, meaning the actual customers are probably paying the same draconian tech import tax with the only difference being that the tax that would normally (hopefully) go to a public good is instead going to a smuggler's pocket. I'm not too sympathetic here.

 

[Sausagemeat]

Rules weren't made (at least most of them) just because. There are trading agreements and depending on the countries' interests, higher or lower taxes.
One example: if the country A produces and sells a lot to the country B, but doesn't want to buy nothing from the country B because it buys from country C then.... country B may increase taxes over countries' A merchandise to level up the money that goes outside (or even try that people don't buy so much from country A). That is just a very basic example.

Yes I’m aware of how trade agreements work lol. The Chinese are just trying to promote manufacturing of these things within their own country (clearly these are not made in China). But they can’t. Hardly anyone can. The import taxes on such items can be heinous aswell.

How would you feel if your leaders levied a massive import tax on foreign made tech in order to promote domestic alternatives?

 

[Diwiak]

Probably he tried to go Cyberpunk ;-DD

 

[rmcrys]

How would you feel if your leaders levied a massive import tax on foreign made tech in order to promote domestic alternatives?

As on politics and many other things in life, extremes are never good. As you said you are aware of how trade agreements work, that is the reason most 1. world civilized countries have a BALANCED trade agreement "you buy something from me, I buy something from you".

China, Russia and some other countries, they try "I steal, copy, produce and rule everything as I want" so they are on a "side" of those trade agreements. If it wasn't the EU and USA making an arm wrestling with China, they would just sell everything and buy nothing (why buy when they can hire someone that copies or steal high-end tech plans?)

China got a little more civilized on that matter, that is the reason why on the present war they try to be as far as possible from actions that may break that balance with the world trade: if they don't behave, ALL North America and EU (and surely Australia, Japan, UK, etc) will stop trading with them and taking all tech industry out of there. In 2 years they would have massive economic breakdown.