Terry Liu was maybe just trying to make money by stealing and selling computer parts. He was a U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervisor in Calais, Maine, and he is accused of ripping valuable components out of dozens of computers—CPUs, RAM chips, hard drives—and replacing them with inferior components (The Main Wire, September 11, 2026).
Terry “Jiajia” Liu—originally of Guangzhou, per his Facebook page—was arrested after a counter intelligence investigation captured hidden-camera footage of him breaking into government computers and modifying the hard drives.
According to court records released Friday in Maine District Court, Liu is alleged to have stripped valuable components from government computers, replaced them with inferior parts and traded the originals to an electronics retailer for credit.
Liu, 39, is charged with theft and damage of government property in a case involving 46 altered computers at three Maine border facilities. Prosecutors are seeking to keep him jailed, citing frequent international travel, financial resources and a home close enough to Canada that an ankle monitor might not prevent him from leaving the country.
The alleged scheme persisted after a port director explicitly warned Liu not to move computers or their parts. Investigators later installed cameras that, according to an FBI affidavit, captured the supervisor opening government computers and swapping components during overnight shifts.
The affidavit doesn’t state or imply that the alternative hardware the Chinese national installed on Homeland Security computers might have served an espionage purpose.
Skipped work-ticket process
On March 18, 2025, Port Director Theodore Cummings told Liu, in writing: “Please do not move any computers or computer parts. I do appreciate the intent but we should stay in our lane and report deficiencies through the work ticket process.” Seems that Liu had been caught working on one or more computers and had told higher-ups something like, “Oh yeah, just trying to save us some time and/or money by doing a little do-it-yourself repair….”
Months later, CBP personnel discovered that approximately 23 computers had been modified without authorization. Original processors, memory and hard drives had been replaced with components that did not meet agency requirements. Many of the machines had been reconnected to the CBP network.
The reporting doesn’t suggest that the despoiled computers were infected with any viruses or spyware. But the possibility of espionage should be investigated if it’s not being already being discreetly investigated. The fact that Liu continued his operation after being told to stop could mean that he’s just dishonest and dumb or could mean that he was under pressure from the government of his native country, the People’s Republic of China.
Citing a Washington County, Maine source, Maine Wire reports that Liu “was apprehended at Bangor International Airport trying to catch a flight back to China.”
