What just happened? Due to the ongoing GPU mining craze, Chinese smugglers seem to have turned their attention to the new Nvidia CMP mining cards. On a recent operation, Hong Kong customs confiscated a sizeable amount of goods from a fishing boat, including what seems to be 300 Nvidia CMP 30HX mining cards.

It's hard to determine with certainty which cards were confiscated as they lack the stickers and branding we are used to seeing. This video shows they do not have any video outputs, leading us to believe these are indeed Nvidia CMP series cards.

The release of the CMP 30HX and 40HX was scheduled for March, but only the former has been found on sale. Since no CMP 40HX cards have been seen on the wild so far, the confiscated cards are most likely the former.

The Chinese smugglers were loading a fish boat when the authorities noticed the suspicious activity near the Hong Kong International Airport. After engaging the smugglers, the officers followed the group who escaped towards China waters using a high-speed boat.

Despite the group's escape, Hong Kong authorities apprehended a considerable amount of smuggled products from the fishing boat. Besides the 300 CMP mining cards, they also confiscated exotic food, gadgets, and smartphones. The tech products by themselves were valued at HK$2 million, or about $257,000.

It's not strange to see mining cards being smuggled considering how much they cost right now. With the appreciation of cryptocurrency and increasing demand for mining GPUs, things will only tend to get worse before it gets better.

If you are new to mining and interested in learning how a GPU works for that purpose right now, you might want to check our quick guide on the best mining GPUs in 2021.

Image credit: TVB News