Something Stinks About This Deal

It's kind of a given that if somebody offers to sell you goods out of the back of a car or something that "fell off a truck" that the merchandise is actually stolen. So if you got a really good deal on a cell phone in Southern China from some guy like those I mentioned, you might have gotten into a smelly deal. Authorities in China have busted a smuggling ring that was bringing cell phones into China from Hong Kong.

Through a sewer pipe.

Seven gang members were arrested, including the ringleader, a truck driver and five couriers who carried goods through the pipe, the official China Daily said.

Three more suspects, including two Hong Kong residents, were still being sought, it said.

The gang had dug a hole in an apartment they'd rented on the Chinese side which they then linked up to the 66-foot-long sewage pipe, the report said, citing comments by Shenzhen customs deputy director of anti-smuggling, Song Min, at a news conference Wednesday.

Police recovered about 900 mobile phones and other devices worth about $200,000, including $33,750 in unpaid taxes, Song said.

The gang used the route only three times before the cops sniffed out the scheme.(I had to do it. I couldn't help myself.)