The Apple iPhone is made in China. It is then exported to Apple’s retail stores throughout the world. But, apparently, they still cost a bomb in the place where they were manufactured, making them a luxury commodity for the well heeled. And these people are ready to pay the price. Even if that means buying them through the grey market, smuggled in from Hong Kong via a lucrative electronic mafia syndicate. To cut down on the to-and-fro trips, some of these mules resort to rather extreme measures and get caught in hilarious ways. Like this dude.
According to a Sina news report, this Hong Kong man has been arrested at the Chinese border with 94 iPhones strapped to his body. Police noticed this man’s ‘mobile armour’ due to his ‘weird walking posture’, which makes a lot of sense. The phones were held together with clingfilm and tape. The phones, iPhone 5s and 6 models, were together worth more than $49,000, and weighed around 12 kg in total. No wonder he was having difficulty walking. After finding nothing suspicious in his two plastic shopping bags, officials asked the man to pass through a metal detector — and the alarm went off.
Photos released by customs authorities show dozens of neatly shrink-wrapped shiny iPhones strapped around the man’s chest, abdomen, crotch and thighs with duct tape. The man — whose record revealed numerous previous run-ins with customs regulations — was held for further questioning. Shenzhen customs officials disclosed that they have caught 18 mules strapping smuggled electronic products — including 282 iPhones — on their bodies since December.
