If you live in China, there are a lot of reasons to purchase a gray market imported version of the iPhone. You can often get them sooner than the official China release, and they can be cheaper because they’re not subject to China’s hefty import tax on electronics. But here’s one good reason not to: your phone may have gotten into China by being strapped to the belly of a fat guy.
Chinese news portal Sina recently carried these photos of a Chinese smuggler who was caught trying to bring Hong Kong iPhones onto the mainland. The portly fellow had a whopping 146 iPhones strapped to his belly, which means he was carrying anywhere from US$76,000 to US$181,000 in product (depending on which models and options he had).
And if you think this approach isn’t common, think again. Strapping products to one’s body and pretending to be a tourist while passing through customs is one of the most common ways to smuggle gray-market electronics across China’s border. In fact, when they checked, customs agents found that this man had been caught smuggling things across the border in the same manner four times previously. In total customs agents have seized 511 mobile phones and 127 CPUs from him since 2011.
But this man is just one of many. So enjoy your gray market iPhones if you must, but be aware that they may well have come to you by being strapped to someone else’s belly. Here’s hoping they get a thorough cleaning before being put up for sale again!
(Source: Sina Photos)
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