US Customs Supervisor Arrested for Stealing PC Hardware from Homeland Security Computers

Arrest and Charges

Terry "Jiajia" Liu, a Customs and Border Protection supervisor stationed in Calais, Maine, has been arrested and charged by the FBI. The charges include theft and damage to government property. Liu's alleged actions involved stealing computer hardware from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) computers.

Hardware Theft Details

Liu is accused of stealing Intel 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh processors, memory modules, and hard drives from at least 46 DHS computers. These computers were located across three Maine border facilities. Following the theft, Liu allegedly replaced the original components with older, inferior hardware, in some cases downgrading processors to Pentium chips and reducing memory and storage capacity.

Method of Operation

Despite a written order explicitly restricting Liu from moving computers or computer parts, surveillance cameras captured Liu opening government computers and swapping hardware during midnight shifts. The perpetrator reportedly moved systems to a training room to perform these actions. Evidence includes recordings of Liu scraping thermal paste from a processor and installing a replacement chip, as well as removing a memory module and storing it in a desk drawer.

Instead of selling the stolen hardware on the open market, Liu utilized Newegg’s Trade-In program. Investigators found 13 emails between a personal account and an official CBP email address containing shipping labels and trade-in receipts for processor models.

Impact and Damage

The investigation revealed that 39 computers had their processors replaced, six had memory modules swapped, and eight had hard drive changes. The estimated damage to government property resulting from these actions is $105,800. The incident highlights a breach of security protocols and misuse of official access within a critical government agency.