If you're considering getting into the business of iPhone smuggling, you might want to think twice, because police in China are cracking down.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus still aren't officially available in the region, and some enterprising individuals are taking advantage of that by selling the coveted handsets on the black market for a hefty markup. But not everyone is getting away with the crime.
Police in recent days have busted a number of iPhone 6 smugglers, most recently seizing a batch of 453 smartphones in Shanghai estimated to be worth $320,000, according to a report from the official Xinhua News Agency. The phones were discovered in the luggage of two passengers arriving at the Shanghai airport from Tokyo.
Police seized "hundreds" more during three busts in Hong Kong last week, the AP reported. In one case, police caught men loading the contraband phones onto a wooden sampan-style boat in a mangrove.
Officers at the Shanghai airport have also confiscated some 831 iPhone 6 handsets from passengers who did not declare them, Xinhua reported. Nearly 700 of those phones are under investigation on suspicion of smuggling. Most passengers carrying the phones were from Canada, Russia, and Hong Kong.
Apple planned to start selling the iPhone 6 in China this month, but reportedly had to push back those plans to obtain additional licenses before its new phones can enter the mainland market. Those looking to take advantage of the iPhone 6 shortage are finding that black market prices for the new smartphones are making third-party reselling quite the lucrative prospect. A 16GB iPhone 6 will cost a prospective Chinese purchaser nearly double the price of the device itself, or just around $1,300.
You might want to hold off, though. Rumors suggest that the new phones will arrive in China as soon as Oct. 10.