Thirty servers equipped with high-performance AI semiconductors were seized at Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Authorities opened an investigation after suspicions were raised that the shipment was smuggled via Malaysia to bypass U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors.

Japan's Gigazine reported on Oct. 29 that Malaysian customs inspected a warehouse in the airport's free trade zone on Oct. 15 and found 30 AI servers worth 49.5 million ringgit, or 1.63 billion won.

The cargo departed from one Asian country and was to be re-exported to another Asian country. Customs documents declared the shipment as general electronic parts instead of regulated AI servers, and the cargo was found to have lacked required trade permits.

Authorities are reviewing the transport route and signs of false declarations to examine the possibility of organised evasion of export controls. They asked a Malaysian company that brokered the shipment to cooperate with the investigation. They did not disclose the chip maker, the point of departure or the final destination.

The case is also suspected to be linked to a similar incident in June. At the time, customs seized 72 AI servers worth about 52.92 million ringgit, or 1.74 billion won, after they were declared as computer parts at the same airport. Customs said there were at least 5 cases this year believed to be linked to the same organisation, with the value of seized items exceeding 100 million ringgit, or 3.3 billion won.

Malaysia has required strategic trade permits since July last year for the export, transshipment and transit transport of U.S.-made high-performance AI semiconductors. The measure aims to prevent Malaysia from being abused as a transit point to bypass U.S. restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports to China.

AI research institute Epoch AI also pointed to discrepancies in trade statistics. From April 2024 to June 2025, China's declared imports of servers from Malaysia totalled about $3.75 billion, or 5.02 trillion won, but Malaysia's declared exports to China came to about $600 million, or 803.1 billion won.

Epoch AI said the gap suggests the possibility of large-scale indirect trade. It added that the statistical difference alone cannot confirm the actual scale of smuggling or conclude that the final destination of the latest case was China.