Three passengers arriving from Dubai attempted to smuggle 14 new iPhones into Tashkent without declaring them, customs officials reported. The total value of the smartphones was 227 million Uzbek sums (approximately $18,000). The incident occurred at the border customs post of Tashkent International Airport.

Between September 20 and 22, customs officers uncovered several attempts to illegally import new smartphones. During oral questioning and checks of passenger declarations, it was found that the travelers had failed to declare the phones in their luggage. In total, eight iPhone 18 and six iPhone 17 devices were discovered.

Customs inspections are ongoing. The agency reminded that individuals are allowed to import up to two mobile devices for personal use. If the value of goods exceeds the duty-free import limit, a single customs payment of 30% is levied on the excess amount.

Mobile phones must be declared in the customs declaration. This declaration is the basis for registering the device in the UzIMEI system. If a smartphone is not declared and later registered through UzIMEI, customs duties will be charged on the full value of the device.

Since 2019, over 97.8 million IMEI codes of mobile devices have been registered in Uzbekistan. The total amount of customs payments collected during the official import of mobile devices using the UzIMEI system has exceeded 5 trillion sums.

Source: podrobno.uz