John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 03.15.2022 01:Mar AM EDT

Smuggler Caught in China with 160 Intel CPUs Strapped to His Body

Another CPU smuggler has been caught in China.

China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) recently revealed in its Weibo account that they apprehended a smuggler who tried to get through customs with CPUs and folded mobile phones strapped to his body.

Details on 'Walking CPU'

According to the Administration's post, a man who goes by the name of Zeng entered China through Custom's "no-declaration channel" at Gongbei Port's travel inspection site on March 9. GAC agents then noticed that Zeng's walking posture was abnormal at this point, which prompted them to stop Zeng for an inspection.

Once inspected, customs agents found 160 CPUs and 16 folded mobile phones taped onto Zeng's inner side of his calf, waist, and abdomen, which explains his abnormal walking posture. A VideoCardz.com report mentioned that the CPUs that were taped to Zeng's body were mostly Intel 11th and 12th Gen Core CPUs.

PC Gamer's report added to VideoCardz.com's article, saying that the total price of CPUs Zeng tried to smuggle was close to $50,000.

Currently, Zeng's case is being processed in accordance with China's regulations. Meanwhile, the man himself, now known as "Walking CPU," is presumably detained by Chinese authorities as GAS' post didn't mention his whereabouts after the investigation.

China's CPU and GPU Smuggling Problems

Zeng's case isn't the only one in GAS' recent investigations. Its officers and agents have also recently stopped a shipment of smuggled XFX Radeon RX graphics cards that were mislabeled to avoid paying the high import tax on the processors. According to Chinese authorities, the shipment they seized had as many as 5,840 graphics cards worth $3 million.

A separate VideoCardz.com article revealed that the shipment of GPUs was imported by Pine Technology Holdings' XFX Division's Asian branch.

XFX is an American electronics company specializing in the designing and manufacturing of video cards and power supply units, according to Pine's About Us page.

Even though Chinese authorities did not confirm XFX's Chinese branch is directly involved, the company's Chinese website has been shut down, along with its official store on the T-mall retail website.

Another Chinese national also tried to get past customs agents in 2021 with a record-setting 304 CPUs attached to his body like "Walking CPU." However, instead of Intel CPUs, this particular man tried to smuggle LGA1155 CPUs, which are smaller.

Tom's Hardware also reports that Chinese customs agents have apprehended a smuggler trying to sneak in 256 Intel processors in 2021 using the same technique as "Walking CPU."

Why Intel CPUs?

Intel CPUs feature a Land Grid Array packaging and contact point design, whereas AMD's AM4 socket CPUs use a Pin Grid Array design featuring pins extruding from the processor's bottom. These pins could cause trouble for smugglers trying to tape these processors to their bodies as they could bend under pressure or upon impact.

However, AMD has confirmed that it would transition into using AM5 sockets for its AMD Ryzen 7000 Series, which would use a Land Grid Array style, per XDA Developers' report.