Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphones are in the strange company at Israel’s customs service, with Viagra also holding a prominent spot at the country’s most smuggled goods list.
The information comes from the customs authorities at Ben-Gurion International Airport, which also said that in 2011 they caught undeclared goods 10,082 times, up from 9,850 in 2010. Taxes on these goods totaled NIS 80 million, which translates into about $21.42 million.
Of the thousands of phones confiscated, most were caught in packages, not actually on travelers. However, agents recalled one woman in her 60s caught hiding 44 iPhones in her stockings. Another person, a 22-year-old employee at cell phone company Pelephone, was caught with 8 iPhones taped to his body.
Some other goods caught at the customers include counterfeit medications, gold jewelry, diamonds, drugs and cash — all of which are not that interesting to IntoMobile.
For the record, some 12.2 million people passed through customs on 90,000 flights last year, 200,000 of them having their baggage scanned by customs. In 22% of all packages checked, customs found something significant.
[Via: haaretz.com]