The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized over 3600 iPhones smuggled from Hong Kong by declaring the goods as memory cards. According to DRI officials, this is the biggest Phones seizure by the agency this year.
“These consignments had arrived from Hong Kong, at Air Cargo Complex (ACC), Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. In the import documents, the goods were declared as “memory cards”. Physical examination, however, revealed that the consignments contained a total of 3,646 iPhone 13 mobile phones,” DRI said. Apart from the iPhone, DRI has also seized the Apple watch and 6 Google pixel phones.
According to DRI, the total value of the seized goods is around Rs 42.86 crore, while the declared value of the goods was only Rs 80 lakh.
“iPhone 13 models went for sale in India from September 2021 onwards, with a base price of Rs 70,000, and some of the higher-end models cost up to Rs 1,80,000. Import of mobile phones into India attracts effective Customs Duty of around 44 percent,” DRI said.
The detection of attempted smuggling of these high-end phones of the latest models in such large numbers shows how quickly the smugglers establish their smuggling networks for the latest products, like iPhone 13, DRI said.
“This detection has helped unearth a serious import fraud, reinforcing DRI’s ability to detect and combat unique and sophisticated methods of smuggling, having substantial revenue implications,” DRI said.
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