A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent was arrested and faces federal charges after he allegedly swapped hardware out of at least 46 computers at the Calais Port of Entry.
Terry Liu, 39, of Calais is charged with one felony count each of theft of government property and destruction of government property in U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor. Liu worked as a supervisor at the office and was arrested Wednesday.
He allegedly took hardware out of at least 46 computers since late 2025, replacing it with equipment not compliant with Custom and Border Protection’s requirements, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The office’s IT learned on Dec. 19 that multiple computers had been modified without approval. The original hardware, including the computer processing units, random access memory and hard drives were swapped, the affidavit said.
Many of the computers were connected back to the border protection’s network.
Liu was trading in the equipment online, the affidavit said. His credit card statement showed a $600 credit in early 2026 for trade-ins. There were emails from the online company that offered at least $2,660 for trade-ins, the affidavit said.
A camera installed on Jan. 6, in a room where there wasn’t previous coverage, captured Liu appearing to remove hardware from computers, according to the affidavit. Another camera installed above his desk also captured similar actions.
Liu worked the midnight shift and those actions captured on camera happened between his start time and shortly before 2 a.m., according to the affidavit. He knew he was unlikely to encounter other officers because of how the office operated overnight, the affidavit said.
He replaced 39 CPUs, changed six RAMs and changed eight hard drives, the affidavit said. Some computers had multiple changes.
It would cost nearly $21,000 to replace the parts or at least $105,000 to replace the computers, the affidavit said.
Liu is in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
Both charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine up to $250,000 or a combination of the two.