Authorities Foil iPhone Smuggling Worth 700 mln Soums

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Authorities in Uzbekistan’s Syrdarya region have foiled an attempt to smuggle a large batch of smartphones into the country, the State Customs Committee reported.

The violation was detected based on оперативной информации received by the anti-smuggling department of the Syrdarya regional customs administration.

During a joint operation involving the Customs Committee’s Risk Monitoring and Targeting Department, an оперативное подразделение of the State Security Service, and regional traffic safety officers, a Chevrolet Spark vehicle was stopped on the M-39 highway in Syrdarya district.

The car, owned by a citizen who had been under preliminary surveillance, was searched by authorities. Inspectors discovered foreign-made mobile phones in the trunk that had not undergone customs clearance and were not registered in the IMEI system. The owner also failed to provide documents for the devices.

A total of 35 smartphones were found in the vehicle, including 30 iPhone 17 Pro Max devices and 5 iPhone 17 Pro models.

The preliminary value of the seized phones is estimated at about 700 million soums.

The devices have been confiscated as evidence and placed in temporary storage, while a pre-investigation check is currently underway.