Airport Investigation Suggests RTX 5090 Theft Involved Label Swapping
São Paulo, Brazil – An internal investigation at Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil has shed new light on the disappearance of two pallets of NVIDIA RTX 5090 graphics cards, suggesting the high-value components were likely removed by a truck authorized to pick up a different shipment.
The investigation, according to airport operator GRU Airport, points to a sophisticated scheme where the labels on the RTX 5090 pallets were swapped with those of a less valuable, already cleared shipment. This deception allowed the cargo to be logged out of the system as a different consignment, bypassing any security alerts.
GRU Airport has officially classified the incident as theft in its police report. While one individual suspected of receiving stolen goods has been apprehended, the majority of the missing graphics cards remained unaccounted for as of October 24.
The shipment arrived at the airport’s cargo terminal on September 20 and was reportedly stolen the following day, according to police records.
Details from the police report, revealed by Brazilian television network Band on October 20, indicate that surveillance footage captured two subcontracted forklift operators moving the two pallets out of a warehouse on September 21. A third employee, working as a cargo handler, then electronically cleared the goods, allowing them to be loaded onto a truck and depart the premises.
The internal airport investigation concluded that the label swap was the critical element in the theft. By replacing the original labels with those of a lower-value, pre-approved shipment, the airport was inadvertently tricked into allowing a truck with legitimate authorization for that other cargo to enter and leave with the stolen goods. Investigators believe the three employees involved may have been misled rather than directly participating in the planning of the heist. Authorities are now focused on identifying who physically altered the labels within the warehouse and who orchestrated the operation.
Suspect Arrested, Released in Connection with Stolen GPUs
The first RTX 5090 card to surface was listed for sale on the Brazilian used goods website OLX for 32,000 Brazilian Reais (approximately $6,440 USD). The listing, which later reappeared with a partial serial number that Band confirmed matched one imported by the cargo owner, Oderço, was located in the inland city of Santa Bárbara d’Oeste in São Paulo state.
On October 22, a 26-year-old local man was arrested by São Paulo state police on suspicion of receiving stolen goods. He was released the same day after a preliminary hearing. The suspect told police he had purchased the card online for resale and had removed the listing after seeing news reports about the theft.
Family records obtained by AEROIN indicate the man purchased the card on Mercado Livre, Latin America’s largest e-commerce platform, on October 5 for 26,450 Brazilian Reais (approximately $5,320 USD), paying with two credit cards. The seller was identified only by an alphanumeric code, with no name, photograph, or verified seller status. The buyer’s requests for an invoice on October 8 and 9 went unanswered. Following the arrest, the family filed a formal complaint with Mercado Livre, and all products from that seller have since been removed from the platform.
Stolen GPUs Rendered Useless Without Warranty
Purchasers of the stolen graphics cards face further complications. In a video posted on October 22, one individual stated, “The serial numbers of these missing cards have all been voided. This means they have lost their warranty both in Brazil and worldwide.” AEROIN also reported that the cargo owner, Oderço, has provided the serial numbers to Zotac and NVIDIA, both of whom have removed them from their databases. Consequently, warranty activation is impossible, and software updates through the NVIDIA App will no longer be available.
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