216 iPhones Smuggled in Beer Bottles [Video]

The web is littered with stories about how China-based smuggling rings have been trying to illegally import Apple devices under the watchful eyes of the Chinese Customs. The stories range from housewives smuggling the devices and even one particular man who taped 30 iPhones to himself and tried to make his way through the airport. Given the large import tax on technology-based products like the iPhone, smugglers have been using all the tricks up their sleeves to get the much demanded devices on their shores.

The latest story to add to the cornucopia of smuggling related tales is that an older lady was offered some money to serve herself as a mule for a purported iPhone smuggling operation. This time, they used 70 bottles of beer that had been smashed, filled with a few iPhones wrapped with black plastic bags after which the bottles were taped back together.

The only possible explanation as to why the people involved thought that it might work is probably because of the efforts they had to put into emptying the 70 bottles of beer in the first place, but that is just my personal opinion. If they had just stepped back and had a closer look about the operation, it would be easy to see that big bottles of supposed alcohol usually get more attention than basically anything else in airports. For a glimpse into the smuggling operation, watch the video embedded above.