China customs find $1.5 million worth of Intel Xeon CPUs in car, smuggler faces 7 years in jail

Hong Kong Customs busted a suspected smuggling case using private cars, busting a 51-year-old male driver with 596 smuggled Intel Xeon CPUs worth around $1.5 million.

2

Busted: 596 Intel Xeon CPUs discovered in car (source: Hong Kong Customs)

Customs intercepted an outbound private car at Shenzhen Bay Control Point, where after an X-ray inspection, custom officials discovered that the image they had just taken of the trunk of the car was different. Once opened, Hong Kong Customs officials found the smuggled Intel Xeon CPUs on both sides of the rear of the car, as well as secret compartments in the trunk.

The 51-year-old male driver was arrested, with Hong Kong Customs taking to its official blog to explain: "Smuggling is a serious crime. According to the Import and Export Ordinance, anyone who imports or exports unmanifested goods may be fined up to $2 million and imprisoned for seven years upon conviction".

The full post by Hong Kong Customs reads: "Customs intercepted an outbound private car at Shenzhen Bay Control Point on the same day based on risk assessment. After X-ray inspection, Customs officers found that the image of the trunk of the car was different and found the suspected smuggled goods on both sides of the rear of the car and in the secret compartments of the trunk".

A 51-year-old male driver was arrested. The case is still under investigation and more arrests are not ruled out. Customs will continue to strictly enforce the law through risk assessment and intelligence analysis to combat cross-border smuggling activities".

The $1.5 million of CPUs split into 596 processors means each of the Intel Xeon CPUs was worth around $2579, and now this driver is facing some major jail time.