Smugglers use plastic wrap to attach 256 CPUs to their bodies as chip shortage sees demand surge
WTF?! You know there’s a shortage of something when smugglers start cling-filming it to their bodies. It seems the global chip crisis and resulting availability issues affecting PC hardware have led to drivers wrapping themselves in CPUs to get the goods across borders unnoticed—at least they weren’t storing them in the more traditional smuggling cavity.
On June 16, Hong Kong customs officials noticed the driver and co-driver of a truck crossing the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge were acting suspiciously while their vehicle was being searched. Nothing unusual was found, but officers discovered something amiss when frisking the driver.
It transpired that the pair 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, according to Hong Kong site HKEPC.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. PC Gamer writes that another smuggling attempt thought to be related to the first took place ten days later on the same crossing. This time, 52 Intel chips were discovered stuffed in between the driver and front passenger’s seat.
