Hong Kong and Shenzhen authorities smash HK$620 million iPhone smuggling operation

Authorities have smashed a cross-border gang who used a system of drones, giant motorised wheels, and cables to smuggle more than HK$620 million worth of mobile phones between Hong Kong and the mainland.

In a joint operation, officials arrested 26 people in Shenzhen and seized two drones, two wheels, and 4,000 mobile phones worth HK$20 million. In Hong Kong, customs officers confiscated 900 phones worth HK$4.5 million, and arrested three men in a house in Ta Kwu Ling near the boundary fence.

The sophisticated gang, who authorities said had been operating for the past six months, used the drones to fly two 100-metre cables between two high-rise buildings on Yangfang Road in Shenzhen, and the roof of a village house on the opposite side of the border.

Chen Liang, deputy chief of the Wenjindu branch of Shenzhen’s anti-smuggling bureau, said the gang then worked from midnight to 5am each morning in an effort to avoid detection.

“Each day, 10,000 to 15,000 mobile phones were smuggled across the border,” Chen said. “As they operated 15 days a month, its monthly income reached over 10 million yuan.”