Woman fakes pregnancy to smuggle hundreds of CPUs, iPhones into China - The Register

If you deliberation you tin fool customs officials into believing you are large and not, successful fact, smuggling hundreds of Intel processors and iPhones successful a prosthetic strapped to your belly, deliberation again.

That's what a pistillate learned erstwhile she attempted specified a feat astatine the Gongpei Port's customs checkpoint successful China, according to multiple news reports.

The pistillate was, we're told, entering the mainland from Macau connected November 25 erstwhile a customs serviceman noticed and past inquired astir her abnormal posture. The pistillate said she was astir 5 oregon six months pregnant, but the inspector was seemingly suspicious since her belly looked ample capable for her to beryllium successful the 3rd trimester.

In a mean circumstance, it's apt not omniscient to scrutinize the quality of a purportedly large woman, but erstwhile the customs officials utilized an inspection machine, they said they recovered the pistillate was not expecting and was, successful reality, utilizing a prosthetic to conceal 202 Intel chips and 9 iPhones.

The pistillate was detained, according to customs officials.

【🉐 孕婦成功誔下 202 顆 CPU 】一名孕婦從澳門經珠海拱北海關被攔查時，報稱自已懷孕 5 個月，但由於肚子異常巨大引起懷疑，發現這名孕婦使用矽膠肚兜，內藏 202 顆 Intel 處理器 及 9 台 iPhone 手機 ......... 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/q0CSderb44

This is acold from the archetypal clip we've heard of smugglers trying to sneak hundreds of processors past China's customs checkpoints.

For instance, successful a substance of a fewer weeks implicit the summertime of 2021, Chinese customs officials caught 3 truckers attempting to smuggle chips.

Similar to this astir caller incident, Chinese customs agents discovered 1 motortruck operator past twelvemonth with 256 Intel CPUs worthy astir 800,000 yuan (currently $115,000) attached to his calves and astir his torso.

• Starlink terminals reportedly smuggled into Iran amid net shutdowns
• Smuggler caught with 256 Intel Core processors wrapped astir him successful cling film
• US gives Chinese smuggler 37 months successful the slammer for selling knock-off Apple kit
• Amazon India execs questioned aft sellers allegedly usage tract to smuggle marijuana

The smuggling incidents are portion of a important grey marketplace for semiconductors successful China that popped up successful 2020 erstwhile disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic made chips hard to travel by. While immoderate spot shortages person abated elsewhere, the proviso concern successful China has go much analyzable owed to recent sanctions by the US meant to curb the country's entree to precocious chips and semiconductor equipment.

According to Bloomberg, China's semiconductor grey marketplace is made up of hundreds of resellers who person been known to merchantability second-hand oregon antiquated chips for arsenic overmuch arsenic 500 times their archetypal cost.

As for the iPhones, smuggling specified devices into mainland China has been a happening for rather immoderate clip owed to higher import taxes that them much costly than successful surrounding areas similar Hong Kong.

As they person with machine chips, smugglers person tried to get the Apple devices past customs officials by strapping a clump of them to their body, similar this feline who had 94 units connected his idiosyncratic successful 2015.

Now that we tin cheque "woman faking gestation to smuggle chips and phones" disconnected the list, we wonderment what different originative ways radical volition effort to smuggle high-tech goods. No uncertainty determination are palmy examples we'll ne'er perceive about. ®