China cracks down on iPhone-smuggling housewives: media

CRACKDOWN: A man taking a photograph of the public entering an Apple store in Wangfujing. Suppliers for what was one of China's largest online iPhone stores have been hauled to court for allegedly evading taxes by smuggling Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads into the country. — Reuters

SHANGHAI: Suppliers for what was one of China's largest online iPhone stores have been hauled to court for allegedly evading taxes by smuggling Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads into the country, official media reported on Friday.

On Wednesday, 26 suppliers of Lanyou Shuma.com were tried in a Shenzhen court as part of five rings that smuggled more than 162,000 mobile phones worth over 500 million yuan (US$80mil or RM240mil) from Hong Kong over the past two years, the Beijing News said.