144 smuggled iPhones seized at Beijing airport

Customs in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, put on display seized iPhones in March. [Photo/CFP]

A total of 144 undeclared iPhones were intercepted at Beijing International Airport when a foreign passenger tried to take them into the country, the Legal Evening News reported Thursday.

This is the biggest case of undeclared iPhones found by Beijing Customs through inspection of passengers' baggage. The foreigner will have to pay duty taxes for the iPhones before retrieving them.

Beijing Customs officials said inbound passengers have to declare what they bought in other countries upon their arrival to China in order to prevent possible penalties.

In March, a man from Hong Kong was caught smuggling 146 iPhones by Customs at Luohu checkpoint in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province.

He had strapped 126 iPhones to his waist and 20 more to his shanks in an attempt to smuggle them from Hong Kong to Shenzhen.

Smuggling of Apple devices from overseas markets into China is nothing new due to its relatively lower prices in other countries and most of the vendors take to online stores to sell their wares.