Over $5,400,000 worth of iPhone 13s incriminating more than 3,600 units of Apple’s latest smartphones have been seized at Mumbai airport. In an audit conducted by the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Mumbai, shipments of iPhone 13s were shipped from Hong Kong and imported as “memory cards”- apparently to avoid customs duties that are imposed on these smartphones.
“After receiving accurate information, DRI officers checked two shipments on Friday. These shipments arrived from Hong Kong at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Air Cargo Complex (ACC), Mumbai. In import documents, the goods were declared as “memory cards”. However, a physical examination revealed that there were actually 3,646 iPhone 13 mobile phones in the shipment,” DRI said in a statement about the incident.
The total cost of the cargo is $5,400,000. In contrast, it was stated that the cargo that was seized had a value of $1,076,000. The latter also included 12 units of the recently launched Google Pixel 6 Pro smartphone, as well as an Apple Watch smartwatch unit. Which version of the Apple Watch was seized is not reported.
“Attempting to smuggle such valuable electronic items into the country, especially in such large volumes, is not only a violation of customs laws and, as a result, duty evasion, but also may affect the growth of the domestic industry, which was badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. and just started to recover. The iPhone 13 was released just 2 months ago and smuggling it in such huge volumes shows how quickly smugglers are capitalizing on every opportunity,” DRI said in a statement.
Apple released the iPhone 13 series earlier this year in September, with the entry-level variant of the series priced at $950. Higher variants of the smartphone line cost more than $1,500 for each smartphone and incur about 44% customs duties on imports.