(Ecns.cn)--A high school girl trying to smuggle 25 iPhone4 handsets from Hong Kong-controlled Sha Tau Kok, an official border crossing between HK and the mainland, was summarily arrested by customs officials manning the customs supervision zone to Shenzhen, according to the Guangzhou Daily Tuesday.
The 19-year-old girl, a Sha Tau Kok resident who currently attends a Shenzhen middle school, may be sentenced for jail for under three years and incur certain other penalties, according to the report.
On the night of March 13th, the girl was expected back at school, but before she left, a smuggler found her and asked her to do him a favor. Since it was not the first time she had been asked to smuggle something past customs, and was promised 250 yuan (US$39.5) to be collected later, she accepted.
She strapped the 25 phones to her legs and waist with adhesive tape, and wore her baggy school uniform to cover the bulges. She looked very calm and chatted with customs officials when passing through the surveillance zone, recalled a customs official
But since the girl was a known "smuggler," she was targeted for careful inspection, and her over-acting caught officials' attention.
Because of the special location of Sha Tau Kok, many contraband handlers choose to smuggle products to the Chinese mainland through here, and in order not to be identified, they ask students to take the risk for them, said a customs official.
Schools and parents need to pay more attention to these teenaged students, said a middle school psychological counselor in Shenzhen, as these kids are tempted to risk their future and reputation by moving contraband items just for the pocket change it provides.
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