Customs officials seize 12 iPhone 16 Pro Max at airport in northern India
by Aditi VermaCustoms authorities at an Airport in northern India’s Delhi seized 12 iPhone 16 Pro Max devices from four passengers arriving from Dubai, marking the second significant iPhone smuggling incident within days.
The incident took place at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on October 1.
Visuals showed customs officials, after taking the phones for inspection, placed all the iPhones in a tray. During the checking process, the devices were laid out neatly, and ready for further examination.
The passengers were found attempting to smuggle 12 units of Apple’s newly launched iPhone 16 Pro Max.
This incident follows a similar case where 26 iPhone 16 Pro Max devices were seized by a woman arriving from Hong Kong earlier that day. The smartphones were concealed inside a vanity bag wrapped in tissue paper. In her late thirties, the passenger was caught by customs during a detailed personal and baggage search.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max, the top model of Apple’s latest series, has been in high demand since its global launch last month. Smugglers are likely targeting the lucrative market for high-end smartphones in India to evade hefty import taxes.
Customs officials have ramped up surveillance to curb illegal imports, and investigations are ongoing to determine if these incidents are linked to a broader smuggling network.