A US Investigation conducted by the FBI, Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies have found Aeroflot Airlines employees involved in smuggling of $50 million worth of electronic goods into Russia.
The Department of State revoked visas of 113 Aeroflot employees involved in the multi-million dollar smuggling. It was reported that the majority of the smuggled devices including iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches were stolen.
In a statement, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Seth DuCharme said:
“The defendants were members of an international smuggling ring that used a network of operators here and in Russia to circumvent U.S. export laws and regulations.”
“With today’s arrests, the network has been broken thanks to the outstanding work of ..prosecutors who worked tirelessly alongside our agency partners to closely scrutinize the goods and individuals that transit our international borders.”
A total of ten people living in Brooklyn and Moscow were charged with transportation of stolen property, failure to file export information, illegal exportation of electronic devices, and conspiracy, after the investigation.
Feature Image: “Airbus”
