iPhones worth Rs10.9 million seized at Karachi airport

The Model Customs Collectorate of the Jinnah International Airport Karachi has foiled an attempt to smuggle 58 iPhones worth Rs10,900,000, said Syed Irfan Ali, a spokesman for the Customs.

Ali said that Deputy Collector Customs Airport Inamullah Wazir was informed that an attempt would be made to smuggle mobile phones and electronic items from Dubai to Karachi.

On Wazir’s instructions, plain-clothes personnel were deployed in the Satellite Area, the Immigration Hall and the Arrival Hall to monitor passengers arriving from abroad. The Customs officers stationed at the Green Channel were also alerted.

During the clearance of the Emirates Airline’s flight EK606 that had arrived from Dubai, the Customs plain-clothes personnel reported the presence of an unattended shopping bag in the Immigration Area’s bathroom to the Customs officers.

After taking the shopping bag in possession and scanning it, mobile phones were identified in the bag. Later, the Customs staff opened the shopping bag and found 58 iPhones worth Rs10.9 million in it. An FIR has been registered against the unidentified suspects under the Customs Act.