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