Smugglers Use Zip Line to Haul iPads Into China

A group of smugglers were busted recently using a zip line and a crossbow to haul smuggled Apple products from Hong Kong into mainland China. According to a news report from a Chinese TV station, the smugglers were using the line to smuggle over 50 iPads and 50 iPhones into China, where the difference in taxes and retail pricing would allow them to make as much as $100 in profit per device.

Chinese Smuggler Bust

According to a PCWorld translation of the video report (below), the group used a crossbow to shoot a 300-foot zip line from a building on the Shenzhen province side of the river separating the People’s Republic of China from Hong Kong. They then attached their cache of Apple goods to the line and were hauling them up with some kind of pulley system when they were spotted by a police surveillance operation.

The value of the cache was set by Chinese police at roughly US$46,583,

Video report from Chinese TV station