Smuggled iPhones worth $87,000 found in HCMC train car

By Quoc Thang March 15, 2022 | 04:44 am PT

A box of used iPhones is found inside a train car at the Saigon Station, HCMC's District 3, March 14, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Nhat Vy

A Monday night raid on a train car at the Saigon Railway Station netted 529 used iPhones worth VND2 billion in the open market, authorities said.

The phones, with no sales or ownership documents, were seized by officials of the HCMC market managers and police from a carriage of the SE4 train at the Saigon Station in District 3. The train departs HCMC for Hanoi every evening. More details of the raid were not provided by the authorities.

The phones have been deemed goods forbidden to be imported without sales invoices to prove their origin. They would be worth over VND2 billion ($87,400) if they were sold in the open market, officials have estimated.

The phones' owner is yet to be found and an investigation has been launched, officials said, adding that they suspected these were smuggled into the country.