A team raided Kuala Lumpur airport's free trade zone on June 5 and seized 72 servers that were reportedly bound for export to another Asian country, airport customs director Zulkifli Muhammad said.
Malaysia tightened export and transshipment controls on chips from the United States last year, requiring a strategic trade permit and advance notification if there is suspicion of misuse or diversion.
The Southeast Asian nation, as a growing data-center hub, is seeking to prevent itself from being used as a transit point for restricted chips headed elsewhere.
"The servers were declared as 'computer components' to avoid detection from the authorities," Zulkifli told a news conference.
Malaysia's customs department officers show a pallet of server units containing advanced AI chips during a press conference on the department's seizure of 72 server units containing advanced AI chips at Sepang, Malaysia, June 26, 2026. Photo by Reuters
