Crustacean Cargo: Hong Kong Drivers Smuggle Nvidia GPUs With Live Lobsters

pcmag.com:

Two men were recently caught trying to smuggle Nvidia graphics cards out of Hong Kong alongside live lobsters.

Hong Kong Customs caught the suspects last week while the two men drove their car outbound through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, meaning they were likely headed to Macau, another city that's a part of China.  

The private car had declared itself to be empty. But customs officials found 280 kilograms (617 pounds) of packed live lobsters. In addition, the car also contained 70 computer graphics cards “with a total estimated market value of about $600,000,” Hong Kong authorities said(Opens in a new window).  

Hong Kong Customs also released photos of the incident, one of which shows the packed car. Two separate photos show the live lobster unpacked and a table full of computer GPUs. Based on the images, the graphics cards appear to be the Nvidia Quadro K2200(Opens in a new window), which launched in 2014. So the smugglers may have been trying to sell the cards to an electronics recycler. 

Hong Kong Customs added: “A male driver and a male passenger, aged 37 and 51 respectively, both suspected to be connected with the case were subsequently arrested."

China is no stranger to innovative/bizarre efforts to smuggle goods into the country. In December, a woman was caught trying to smuggle smartphones and chips into the country using a pregnancy prosthetic. 

However, Hong Kong Customs says penalties for smuggling can be severe. “Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years,” the agency said(Opens in a new window).

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