A man was recently caught in the port of Qingdao, China, attempting to smuggle CPUs into China. This was not the first attempt to smuggle PC parts into China, but the attempt was particularly ballsy, as the smuggler was arrested with 306 CPUs strapped to his body.

Smuggling PC parts instead of drugs might make it easier to evade detection dogs, but trying to pass a metal detector test would be a bit more difficult. However, that did not seem to be the reason he was arrested.

According to China's People's Daily (via Tom's Hardware), the man was arrested on June 29 while trying to cross from Macau to mainland China. Customs officers observing the incoming traveler believed that the man was "walking in an abnormal posture. A subsequent search by police officers revealed 306 CPUs wrapped in plastic film and tape on the man's waist, legs, and back.

The brand of the CPUs was not disclosed, but one of the photos released by Qingdao Customs shows a handful of CPUs, which, at a guess, are LGA 2066 CPUs. The fact that it is not the latest and greatest CPU, in and of itself, is interesting. Why smuggle older CPUs? Is it to avoid or minimize taxes? Are these engineering samples?

Perhaps they were for the megalomaniac supercomputers being built as part of a conspiracy to destroy the world. Unless Chinese customs tells us, we will never know.

Just last week, a smuggler was caught carrying 420 M.2 SSDs (again from Macau), and last December, a woman was caught with 200 CPUs and a nice iPhone in her belly-in-law.