California Cargo Heist
As high-end PC hardware continues to surge in demand and price, GPU theft has become a highly profitable target for criminals. Authorities are investigating a major cargo heist involving the disappearance of an $11.4 million shipment of Nvidia hardware. The shipment consisted of six pallets of hardware that left Oakland for Texas on August 29 and was picked up by a truck posing as a food transport company. Investigators lost track of the vehicle in San Bernardino County, with the Oakland Police Department receiving a report of the theft on September 13.
These chips command about double the price that they command inside the United States. If a chip costs about $550,000, then they go for about 1 million or more abroad, according to Olaf Groth, a professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
While there has been no announcement regarding any arrests, the authorities are investigating the matter. The incident has raised concerns among experts about the security of high-value technology shipments and the potential national security risks posed by advanced computing hardware making its way into black-market channels.
Global Theft Trends
In a similar incident from Brazil in September, two pallets containing Nvidia's top-of-the-line GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards, valued at approximately $470,000, disappeared at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo. The shipment, imported from the US, arrived at the airport on September 20 and cleared customs on September 24, but the pallets went missing the following day after being authorized for release.
The investigation uncovered a possible inside job, with Brazilian police identifying three airport employees suspected of helping carry out the heist. Two outsourced forklift operators allegedly removed the pallets from a warehouse, an incident captured on CCTV, while a third employee responsible for checking and releasing merchandise allegedly helped bypass the airport's electronic controls.
The situation escalated when one of the stolen Zotac RTX 5090 graphics cards appeared for sale on the Brazilian online marketplace OLX for more than $6,000. The listing included clear pictures of the card's serial number, allowing it to be linked to the missing shipment. The listing has since been taken down, while the whereabouts of the remaining graphics cards remain unclear.
