Woman arrested at Ben-Gurion airport with 44 iPhones strapped to her legs

by Scott Carmichael on

Forget drugs, animals and bomb parts – the new hot commodity of choice for smugglers is apparently the Apple iPhone. At Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, a passenger was caught trying to smuggle 44 of the smartphones into the country.

The Israeli woman was returning from London when security guards noticed the phones on the screen of their full-body scanner. Apparently, the passenger had dressed herself in layers of traditional Georgian attire, but failed to realize that the scanners would be able to see right through them.

When she was scanned, the operators were amazed to see the 44 phones in her stockings. After the catch, she was released and a decision will be made later this week whether to indict her.

At least the iPhones were relatively “normal” – other smugglers have tried to import live pigeons, a dead relative and a monkey.

[Photo: AP]

Dulles customs agents arrest man for his coke and chicken smuggle trick

by Scott Carmichael on

Washington Dulles customs agents arrested a man last week for trying to smuggle cooked chicken into the US stuffed with cocaine. The haul was just 60 grams, but that is still worth $4,300 on the street.

While smuggling cocaine isn’t too rare, customs officials do come across new methods every week.

Of course, smuggling your stash in cooked chicken is particularly stupid, as department of agriculture cops are always on the lookout for meat in your luggage. You might as well wear a sign telling them you are a smuggler.

Some other wacky finds at the border we’ve covered here on Gadling:

Man caught with dog inside his luggage

by Katie Hammel on

I’ve traveled with my cats a few times while making some cross country moves. I hated cramming them into squat cages to fit them under my airplane seat and I really hated having to pay a few hundred dollars for their own “tickets” plus the vet checks and paperwork that certified them as healthy enough to fly. But never would I have considered trying to smuggle them on a flight inside my luggage. Yet that’s exactly what a man traveling from Madrid to Dublin did with a small Chihuahua dog.

Somehow the man was able to get the dog, which was in a cage inside his luggage, through security in Madrid. When he got off the plane in Dublin after a 2.5 hour flight, customs officials noticed a strange outline as they X-rayed his bag. They thought it was a stuffed animal until they opened the bag and found the live dog.

The man, who is originally from Bulgaria, has been arrested. The dog was reportedly in fine condition and is being held in quarantine after which, I hope he will be placed in the care of someone with a little more common sense.

[via Telegraph]