Smuggler Caught With 420 M.2 SSDs Strapped to His Stomach

In the newest installment of {hardware} smuggling busts by Chinese customs, authorities have arrested a {hardware} trafficker that attempted to sneak 420 M.2 SSDs into China. Customs estimated the seized SSDs are price round HK$258,000 or $32,984.94. Perhaps a few of these drives are among the many finest SSDs.Chinese information outlet HKEPC first noticed the story and reported that the smuggler tried to slip the illicit items from Macau to Zhuhai by the Gongbei Port. Given the proximity between Macau and Zhuhai, the passage is without doubt one of the hottest trafficking routes for mules. It wasn’t way back {that a} girl hid greater than 200 Alder Lake chips inside her pretend silicone stomach, or one other man tried to stroll into China with 160 Intel processors taped to his physique. Normally, traffickers strive to smuggle high-value items, akin to processors or graphics playing cards. A current try to conceal 70 graphics playing cards amongst 617 kilos of dwell lobster comes to thoughts. On the opposite,  this SSD smuggler opted to sneak in lower-value {hardware} as a substitute. It is not the primary time we have seen M.2 SSDs transported into China. A current bust from this yr detained a person that hid 84 SSDs inside his scooter. M.2 SSDs nonetheless comprise metallic components, so it is shut to inconceivable to get previous steel detectors with out elevating the alarm with the steel detectors.Instead of hiding the SSDs inside a package deal, the perpetrator opted to tape the drives round his physique for an even bigger haul. The seized bounty amounted to 420 M.2 drives, equal to a mixed worth of roughly $32,984.94. At $78.53 a bit, the offender could possibly be smuggling 1TB or 2TB PCIe 4.0 drives.For that matter, smuggling {hardware} from Macau or Hong Kong bypasses the customs duties that the Chinese authorities applies to the products. As a consequence, the people who rent the smugglers see higher revenue margins once they resell on platforms akin to Goofish.There’s a giant gray market in mainland China for client digital gadgets, together with laptop {hardware}. Therefore, the smuggling is unlikely to cease. On the opposite hand, smugglers are simply pondering up extra artistic strategies to get items into mainland China.

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