Helsinki becomes gateway for illegal counterfeit phones from Asia to Europe: media

Finnish customs said the smuggling of counterfeit mobile phones and their spare parts from Asia has shown a major increase in the past year, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported Tuesday.

The largest single confiscation in Helsinki last year included 2,500 smart phones sent from Hong Kong. Their value on the EU market was assessed at 1.3 million euros (1.5 million U.S. dollars).

The smart phones were discovered in a routine check. Unusual stickers on the phone screens had caught the eye of inspectors.

Customs inspector Riikka Pakkanen told Yle that smart phones replaced automobile spare parts as the most popular product for smuggling in 2014.

Helsinki is well served with non stop air routes from Asia. Once a product has entered Finland, it will be part of the free movement of goods within the European Union.

During 2014 the Finnish customs at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport made some 20 confiscations of smaller size. The major confiscation in late 2014 resulted a brief lull, but counterfeit mobile phones have shown up again in recent weeks, inspector Pakkanen said.

Even though Helsinki has lost ground as a gateway for forged auto spare parts, counterfeit bearings keep coming in. Among the more esoteric faked products were auto break pads made of cow excrement, Finnish customs told Yle.

Inspector Pakkanen said she is particularly concerned with items connected with electricity. As the price of copper is fairly high in the world market, counterfeit producers try to avoid using copper and this may result in explosions when the false equipment is used, she said. Endit