Two pallets of Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics cards worth $470,000 go missing at Brazil airport
The cargo belonged to Oderço, a Brazilian IT and electronics distributor that has operated in the market for 38 years
Two pallets of Zotac Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics cards went missing after arriving at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo, Brazil, with the shipment valued at about $470,000, or 2.5 million reais, according to reports.
The cargo belonged to Oderço, a Brazilian IT and electronics distributor that has operated in the market for 38 years. The estimated value reflects the distributor's wholesale acquisition cost, with the potential retail value significantly higher, says Toms Hardware.
Oderço said it had contacted airport and freight authorities but had received no official response or explanation about the shipment's whereabouts.
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The distributor said it had never faced a similar situation in nearly four decades of operations and published an appeal on Instagram seeking answers and accountability.
The exact number of graphics cards in the shipment has not been officially disclosed. However, based on local retail prices of about 33,999.99 reais per Zotac RTX 5090, estimates suggest the shipment contained at least 63 cards at wholesale rates, although the actual quantity could be higher.
Global shortages and rising prices
The disappearance comes amid limited global supplies of Nvidia's RTX 5090 graphics cards. Retailers such as Micro Center have seen stocks disappear, while third-party resellers have listed the cards at prices ranging from $8,500 to $9,500.
The incident also comes amid reports of theft and scams involving high-value technology shipments. Previous cases cited in reports include hijacked shipments of artificial intelligence hardware in California and the theft of Nvidia-branded trailers that were later found to contain ballast sand rather than the expected cargo.
