According to Tom's Hardware, citing an October 28 Reuters report, the seizure took place on October 15 and is valued at 49.5 million ringgit, more than $12 million. The shipment originated in one Asian country and was bound for another, undisclosed Asian country. The airport's customs director, Aspalila Ag Tuah, said the servers were falsely declared as electronic goods, and the Malaysian company involved in the shipment has been summoned to assist the investigation.
Authorities suspect the same network was behind a similar attempt in June, when 72 servers containing AI chips worth about $13 million were seized at the airport. The customs director said the network has so far been linked to seizures worth more than $25 million across at least five cases.
The chip type, country of manufacture, final destination and recipient have not been disclosed. Tom's Hardware notes that China is the likely destination, given US export controls on advanced AI chips, and that Malaysia itself imposed controls on exports of US-origin AI chips at Washington's request.