Woman fakes pregnancy to smuggle hundreds of CPUs, iPhones into China

If you think you can fool customs officials into believing you are pregnant and not, in fact, smuggling hundreds of Intel processors and iPhones in a prosthetic strapped to your belly, think again. That's what a woman learned when she attempted such a feat at the Gongpei Port's customs checkpoint in China, according to …

[Andy The Hat]

Bit of an odd one. I'd have thought China would welcome all the current US technology they could get. Unless of course these were private smugglers, which would be a big no-no, and the goods were therefore impounded for "disposal" by the State ...

[Joe W]

1. send a goon out to buy the stuff

2. let them smuggle it out of the country

3. "attempt" to smuggle into the PRC

4. impound them, outrage, news "we are policing our borders" abound

5. "confiscate" the chips you sent said goon to buy in 1.

[sten2012]

Was going to say the same.

Why would I go out of my way to enforce a rule against my own citizens on behalf of the people that imposed it only to hurt me? Odd!

Maybe the fact you can't charge import duty? I dunno

[b0llchit]

When those processors and phones are, ehm, delivered,... do they cry or are they stillborn?

[Phil O'Sophical]

If I were going to smuggle chips, especially large BGA ones, I'd try hot-melt gluing them to the PCBs of otherwise allowed stuff like cheap radios. Scans wouldn't show anything abnormal, and the average customs agent probably doesn't have the training to spot that such a chip is unconnected and out of place on an FM radio board, even if they could be bothered to do a visual inspection.

Try to pass them off in a fake baby bulge seems doomed to failure.

[Martin Summers]

Welcome to the watch list Phil ;-)

[Version 1.0]

It was always easier to ship items to Hong Kong and let the locals to their normal daily work driving over the border, I saw that work with no issues at all for years. And as a student I had friends who would fly to Holland and then come back home, walking through customs with a pussy full of decent drugs.

I've never done this sort of thing myself but it's always been educational and fun looking at these events.

[KittenHuffer]

Did the cat never complain? Or was it happy with its cut of the profits?

[Ace2]

+1 for comment/username synergy

[Potemkine!]

As always with claims of triumph from Customs

For one caught, how many are going through?

== Bring us Dabbsy back! ==

[Little Mouse]

There's an art to looking convincingly pregnant, one lost on the majority of TV actors. There's so much more to it than just having a fake bump.

Similarly, it's fun to see when they try to disguise someone's real-life pregnancy on TV by hiding the bump with conveniently-placed props, forgetting that the way the person walks and stands just screams out "Pregnant person!".

[AMBxx]

Personal favourite was giant handbag.

Can't remember the series -about some divorced men. Very tall female neighbour with tiny assistant. In their defence, they did make it obvious that it was all a joke.

[Anonymous Coward]

The Ex's!

Anon because it really is a terrible show. But I watched it all anyway.

Guilty "pleasure" is a bit strong of a description. Guilty watchable maybe - the shame still stands though.

[Anonymous Coward]

Never watched it, but there are some series that you get so far though, you just want to make it to the end to see how it finishes

[My other car WAS an IAV Stryker]

Costuming -- like hiding under jackets -- often gives it away. Example: B'Elanna Torres in "Star Trek: Voyager".

[The Oncoming Scorn]

Looking Pregnant

Also the reverse is true.

A schoolfriend got his girlfriend pregnant (I don't know if they knew at the time), I walked into the pub, they were playing the Moon Cresta video game her whole posture had changed & I went to myself "Pregnant!".

Couple of weeks later my father said to me

"Ian's got Di up the duff"

:"I know"

"*Fred only told me today, how did you find out"

I could tell when I went into "The Stars" & saw how she was standing by the space invader.

*Father worked for schoolfriends dad & friend was paired with my dad as apprentice.

Icon - A pint for those carefree days of long ago of drinking "On probation" while underage in the same pubs as our fathers drank in.

[Outski]

Easiest way with telly is to write the pregnancy into the script, particularly with soaps; plot the character going away whenever the actor's baby is due, give them a prosthetic once they've had it, and you can write in a very realistic delivery scene.

[DS999]

I saw an article about this a couple days ago

Which said the thing that alerted customs officials is that she was walking without difficulty despite the large belly. She needed more weight in the belly (CPUs and boxed iPhones are a lot less dense than amniotic fluid) to make it harder for her to stand upright and walk.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I saw an article about this a couple days ago

Ta. That has been added to the notes.

This forum is a goldmine, v2 is going to work for sure.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is there import duty on iPhone sin China? Since they're made there they don't need to be imported - what am I missing in this?

[WonkoTheSane]

iPhones are /ideologically/ American, therefore banned?

[ComputerSays_noAbsolutelyNo]

But if the iPhone is "born" in China, doesn't this make them Chinese?

Maybe the Chinese do not use the "ius soli".

[DS999]

In the UK

There isn't an 'import duty' but it would be a lot cheaper importing phones that didn't have VAT attached. Plus they cost a little less in the US even ignoring VAT.

If they are sufficiently cheaper elsewhere, regardless of the reason, there will be incentive for smuggling. Either stuffing 3 or 4 in your suitcase for your friends/relatives when you visit the US and 'forgetting' to declare them to customs or going industrial scale like she tried.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: In the UK

"Plus they cost a little less in the US even ignoring VAT."

Warranty duration is also costed in. In the UK and EU, that's two years, not one, as Apple "discovered" to their cost in Italy when selling "extended" warranties based on only one year MFG warranty.

[VicMortimer]

Re: In the UK

But the US ones don't have a SIM card slot any more. Apple's idiotically gone entirely e-SIM now.

[Al fazed]

Disinformation

ALF

[Anonymous Coward]

Won't that set off metal detectors?

Most developing babies are non-magnetic* so they should be fine, but chips and metal detectors don't go together so why was that not picked up there?

* _{As far as I know :)}

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Won't that set off metal detectors?

Silicon is non-magnetic too. It would show up a mm wave camera though...

[Martin Summers]

Re: Won't that set off metal detectors?

What about the pins though.

[Little Mouse]

Re: Won't that set off metal detectors?

You can't be putting pins in a baby. Even for Science.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Won't that set off metal detectors?

Most circuitry is non magnetic, but because they're circuits they tend to resonate in whatever makes a metal detector work.

[DS999]

Re: Won't that set off metal detectors?

To prevent an annoying amount of false alarms they probably have to have the sensitivity dialed down with how many younger people have piercings, and older people have artificial joints.

So I wouldn't expect CPUs to trigger it, but iPhones would given the metal case.

[Anonymous Coward]

I would like to compliment El Reg

.. for that subhead :)

[Evil Auditor]

...they found the woman was not expecting...

Well, she clearly was expecting - expecting to get through with this stunt.

[Bartholomew]

Was expecting to see

Woman caught with "Intel Inside"

[Little Mouse]

Re: Was expecting to see

Sub-head: "Now that's what we call Intel Inside"

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Australia

If there were internal customs borders in Australia, just think of the amount of trade enterprising Kangaroos could do.

As a matter of fact, do kangaroos compete against Deliverroo in Australia?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Australia

Deliveroo has just pulled out of Oz. They don’t like paying proper wages or something, but it could be because of the Kangaroo Mafia!

[Anonymous Coward]

Fish!

If you need to smuggle chips, put them inside fish.

Add a bag of pickled onions to complete the ruse.

[that one in the corner]

Re: Fish!

And slap the iPhones inside a parmo[1] - no wimpy x-ray is getting through a proper 'boro parmo

[1] that is a classic chicken parmesan with a NE England twist[2]

[2] in your stomach, best to keep the Rennies to hand, you Southern person[3]

[3] sorry, but I can't do the accent [4]

[4] actually, I can, but I won't

[Not Yb]

Found: the CPUs taped to the truck driver

(possibly) Not found: the rest of them hidden in the cargo

Depending on the penalties, this may still have been quite lucrative for the driver (if true)