For once, Chinese customs thwarted a clever attempt to smuggle PC components.
After graphics cards and processors, this time it’s SSD’s turn to attempt to cross the Chinese border…hidden in an electric scooter.
China Customs Reading Speed
On March 3, Qingmao Customs in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai Cross-Border Industrial Zone apprehended a man and seized his Yadea KS electric scooter with the strange cargo. Inside the handlebars were no less than 84 cleverly packaged Kingston SSDs.
The suspect casually tried to pass the customs post by pushing his device, suggesting that he needed to recharge it. For the sake of conscience, the agents asked him to pass his scooter through an X-ray. This is how the deception was discovered, when an unusually shaped package was detected in the handlebars.
Faithful to their training, the agents therefore dismantled the scooter to discover the famous loot. The suspect did not cut it and was arrested. The act of concealing or disguising goods while crossing the Chinese border is punishable by law, and the not so resourceful smuggler will be judged according to the seriousness of the crime. The value of the 84 Kingston SSDs will also be counted in the price of the fine.
Chinese customs, specialist in the seizure of tech contraband
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Chinese customs have faced attempts to smuggle PC components. In the same month last year, Customs in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai Industrial Zone arrested a certain “CPU Man” who was trying to cross the border with 160 Intel processors glued to his thighs.
If this time it is not AMD, in March 2022, another Chinese customs had thwarted a vast operation to smuggle the brand’s graphics cards. In this case, 5,840 products were seized, including Radeon RX 6700 XTs, which had been disguised to pass for other models, all for an exorbitant value of 3 million dollars.
All this to say that the Chinese customs have certainly seen green and not ripe in terms of smuggling of tech products, among others. Given the regularity of such cases, we meet in March 2024 to see what will be the next incongruous seizure in the field?
Source : Weixin
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