According to MyDrivers, the Shanghai Pudong International Airport customs officers caught a passenger who tried to pass through the green channel with 44 second-hand Radeon RX 580 graphics cards. The smuggler had planned to refurbish the graphics cards and resell them for profit.
All 44 GPUs look identical and are most likely used in mining machines. It is not known if the person who smuggled it in is the owner of these graphics cards. When the baggage was scanned, it was quickly noticed that it carried multiple units of similar-looking hardware. While countries allow some items to pass through without the need to be confiscated or incur an import charge, it is a problem when there's a bulk passing through without the needed import license and, worse, passing through the green channel to evade customs officers. With such amounts being carried, customs officers safely assume that the purpose of such imports is not personal, especially when passengers fail to declare and try to go through the green channel.
In such cases in China and many other countries, the officers usually confiscate all the graphics cards. Some countries allow a small amount of products to be passed through the Red Channel after paying a small fee. China has a list of items it prohibits from import, and its officers will follow the process for certain items when properly declared with the required paperwork.
PC hardware smuggling is not an uncommon story in China. Based on previous seizures by customs and police officers, the regulations in China specify that such confiscated hardware is subject to public auction. Some nations have rules that allow them to destroy seized items, which would be ideal. It is not known when writing if these graphics cards are working. The fate of the smuggler is unknown. But if one feels it's worth it, they can always try repurchasing it via auction.
Graphics cards aren't the only PC hardware that gets smuggled through. Earlier reports show that other components such as CPUs, graphics cards, and storage drives are shipped through while trying to evade this by enclosing these items in a bicycle frame or lobsters. No concealments were used in this case, but going through a green channel is considered evasion.
Despite being an old GPU released in 2018, the AMD Radeon RX 580 is one of the sought-after cards in specific markets, such as China.
