Customs at Delhi Airport seize 12 iPhone 16 Pro Max from 4 passengers: Here’s where they were coming from and how they hid them in tissue paper

Customs officials at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport seized 12 newly launched iPhone 16 Pro Max. These phones were confiscated from a group of four passengers arriving on an Indigo flight (6E-1464) from Dubai. The individuals were allegedly attempting to smuggle Apple’s latest, most expensive smartphones into India. This incident follows a similar seizure of 26 iPhone 16 Pro Max phones from a woman arriving from Hong Kong on the same day. Delhi Customs shared on social media platform X (earlier Twitter) which showed that the phones were hidden in tissue papers.

Take a look at the post here

In the X post, Delhi Customs wrote: “Customs@IGI Airport seized 12 iPhone 16 Pro Max from a group of four passengers trying to smuggle these iPhones from Dubai by indigo flight 6E-1464 on 01.10.2024”
The video and photos showed that all the phones were wrapped inside tissue papers.

iPhone 16 smuggling on the rise

This incident marks the second major seizure of iPhone 16 Pro Max smartphones at Delhi’s IGI Airport in recent days. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, the premium model in Apple’s latest smartphone lineup launched globally last month, has become a target for smugglers. The 256GB variant of the most expensive iPhone 16 models starts at Rs 1,44,900.
Earlier that day, customs officials at Delhi’s international airport seized 26 iPhone 16 Pro Max smartphones concealed within a vanity bag. The passenger, a woman in her late thirties, was intercepted upon arrival from Hong Kong.
In a statement to the news agency ANI, an official spokesperson said: “Based on intelligence, Delhi Airport Customs intercepted a lady passenger travelling from Hong Kong to Delhi carrying 26 iPhone 16 Pro Max concealed inside her vanity bag.”
The price of the iPhone 16 Pro Max is lower in Dubai and Hong Kong. In Dubai, the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at AED 5,099 which converts to nearly Rs 1,15, 900. This price is almost Rs 30,000 less than its starting price of Rs 1,44,900 in India.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at HK$ 10,199 which converts to Rs 1,10, 300 which is again Rs 36,400 less than the Indian price. However, to purchase these phones outside India customers have to pay an extra VAT which ranges from 5-12%.