Chinese customs officers in Shenzhen have busted a group of criminals using drones to smuggle $79.8 million worth of iPhones from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, reports Legal Daily via Reuters.
Authorities arrested 26 suspects who used drones to fly two 200-meter (660-feet) cables between Hong Kong and the mainland to transport refurbished iPhones with a total value of 500 million yuan, the paper said in a report on the crackdown by Shenzhen and Hong Kong customs.
The smugglers worked after midnight and needed just seconds to transport small bags holding more than 10 iPhones. They could smuggle as many as 15,000 phones across the border in one night.
Shenzhen customs says it will closely monitor new types of smuggling with high-tech devices and and use enhanced technical equipment, including drones and high-resolution monitors, to detect smuggling activity.
Source: iC