Customs supervisor in Calais charged with theft of computer parts

A supervisor at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) port of entry in Calais has been charged with stealing computer parts from the federal government, after he allegedly swapped out the parts in order to get credit through a computer trade-in program. Terry Liu, 39, of Calais faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on two felony charges of theft and destruction of government property.

Liu is alleged to have modified 46 computers that were at the Ferry Point and Milltown ports of entry, according to an affidavit filed by Christopher White of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Of those computers, 39 had CPUs replaced, six had RAM changed and eight had hard drives swapped out. The estimate to replace the parts that were modified is $20,460; the cost to replace all 46 computers is estimated to cost $105,800.

During midnight shifts, Liu was the only officer working on the passenger side of the Ferry Point port of entry. He had previously been counselled by the port director, Theodore Cummings, in March 2025 not to modify the computers. Then on December 19, 2025, CBP IT personnel became aware that approximately 23 computers had been modified without approval, with hardware swapped out for non-compliant hardware. CBP then installed a camera in the training room to film Liu's actions, and footage showed Liu replacing computer parts.

Allegedly Liu replaced the CPUs with older ones that he purchased from Newegg and Amazon, with packages delivered to his residences in Calais and New Hampshire. A review found that Liu placed hundreds of orders with Amazon between January 2023 and February 2026. Newegg offers a trade-in program for CPUs and RAM items, providing about $200 an item, and emails indicate that Liu traded in the parts from the CBP computers. Between May 2025 and July 2026 he received credit for trade-ins 16 times.

During an interview with the FBI on September 9, Liu admitted to replacing the computer parts with older model parts purchased from Newegg and Amazon. He also admitted to using the CBP computer parts for the Newegg trade-in program. During the interview, Liu said he made the changes because "he was angry with how long it took for CBP IT systems to be repaired," the affidavit states. The CPUs that Liu removed actually are among those affected by a serious bug that can cause crashes and error screens and can degrade the processor, according to PCMag magazine.

Although The Maine Wire reported that Liu has described himself as a native of Guangzhou, China, court documents state that he is not a foreign national.

Liu is currently in detention awaiting trial.