CBP Supervisor Arrested for Stealing Intel Processors and Components from Government Computers

Silicon heist at the border

According to a report from The Maine Wire, the FBI has arrested and charged Terry "Jiajia" Liu, a Customs and Border Protection supervisor based in Calais, Maine, for theft and damage to government property. Liu allegedly stole computer hardware, including Intel 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh processors, memory modules, and hard drives, from at least 46 Department of Homeland Security computers across three Maine border facilities. The stolen parts were replaced with inferior hardware, and the original equipment was exchanged through Newegg's trade-in program for store credit.

Liu's official responsibilities were limited to information-technology support, which did not grant access to modify any government computer. Port Director Theodore Cummings issued a written order making this restriction explicit: "Please do not move any computers or computer parts." However, Liu proceeded with the scheme regardless.

Hidden surveillance cameras documented Liu opening government computers and swapping hardware during the midnight shift. The work took place in a training room. One recording showed Liu using a screwdriver to scrape thermal paste off a processor and installing a replacement chip in one system. Another recording captured Liu removing a memory module from a system and storing it in their desk drawer.

According to the affidavit, investigators found that thirty-nine computers had their processors replaced, six machines had memory modules swapped, and eight had hard drive changes. The original systems used Raptor Lake Refresh chips but were later discovered to have older hardware, sometimes downgraded to Pentium chips. Beyond the processor swap, other computers had less memory and storage capacity than their original configurations.

Rather than selling the stolen hardware on the second-hand market, Liu used Newegg's Trade-In program. Investigators found that Liu sent 13 emails between a personal account and an official CBP email address containing shipping labels and trade-in receipts for processor models matching the missing components from the government computers.

The Newegg trade-in offers ranged between $200 and $210 per processor. According to transaction records from the retailer, Liu traded in Core i7 Raptor Lake Refresh chips 16 times over 14 months, from May 2025 to July 2026. Investigators also found three $200 credits from Newegg in Liu's American Express records.

During an interview, Liu confessed to replacing hardware in the government computers with lower-performing parts bought on Amazon and Newegg. They also acknowledged submitting the government-owned parts to Newegg's Trade-In program. Initially, Liu claimed the actions were motivated by a desire to improve the computers' performance and reduce repair times. However, they later admitted that the changes resulted in degraded performance.

Restoring the stolen hardware could cost about $20,460, while fully replacing all 46 compromised computers with equivalent hardware would cost an estimated $105,800. Additional labor to configure each system for government use will drive the bill even higher.