NEW DELHI: Many Delhiites, it appears, are willing to pay a huge premium just to flaunt the latest iPhone 6S and 6S Plus that are yet to launch in India.
And this eagerness to flaunt is now tempting some to smuggle in the phones illegally.
Customs officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport recently caught a group of youngsters trying to sneak in iPhones in their baggage.
“We caught them on suspicion while they were trying to pass through the Green Channel. We found total 182 iPhones in their baggage and the items were immediately seized,” said Vinayak Azaad, Additional Commissioner, Customs.
Mr. Azaad said that since individually these men were not carrying goods beyond the value of Rs. 20 lakh, they were not arrested, even though the phones were seized.
“These phones are yet to be launched in India and there is a segment of people who want to flaunt these before the phones are officially launched. There was no specific input that we had but we keep a watch on flights coming from Hong Kong and Singapore because bringing such gadgets from these places is much cheaper than bringing these from say Canada or the US,” he said.
“We just focus upon movements on these routes and when we found these men passing through the Green Channel, we got their baggage screened on suspicion,” the Additional Commissioner, Customs, said.
