Hey.
More recently, there was an occupation in the world that cannot be found in the list of professions recognized in different parts of the world. This is the profession of a serovar, a person who transports goods from one country of the world to another, usually using his personal luggage. Suitcase transportation sounds ridiculous to some extent, but in fact they are popular all over the planet. The reason is always the lack of this or that product in sufficient quantities on the local market, or the difference in cost, which makes delivery from another country profitable.
Unlike commercial deliveries, it is almost impossible to carry a large number of goods in personal belongings, they will be identified both during departure during security checks and upon arrival in the country of destination. The larger the product, the higher the risks and the lower the potential profit. For example, memory cards are ideal items to carry in your carry-on baggage. Small, weigh almost nothing, the unit cost is maximum, which means that it is profitable to carry them. Once I happened to see a large package filled with microSD cards of different sizes being transported from Taiwan, the cost of the package was about 25 thousand dollars, it was a weekly delivery of one of the Russian companies. No taxes, no customs clearance – just shipping costs and potential customs issues upon arrival. I found an acquaintance who imported memory cards to Russia in the past, asked how this business was organized.
Vadim shared his experience of the servo carrier, how he smuggled such volumes of memory cards across the border: “Employees of our company constantly traveled to Asia, every week someone was in China, Taiwan, sometimes in Hong Kong. In order not to go back empty, they always carried something with them in their luggage, in addition to samples of electronics in piece quantities, they took something that could be guaranteed to be sold in bulk in a matter of hours. The company quickly acquired a clientele for whom the price of the goods was more important than the documents of its origin. One popular online store bought from us everything that they brought, they paid in cash and did not ask for anything. With the marriage, the issue was resolved amicably, they gave us the broken, we took this into account in the next delivery as a set-off. The weekly turnover was about 200-250 thousand dollars, sometimes it was more or less, the average turnover was like this.
The same memory cards, it seems, since 2008 do not have any tax at customs, you do not need to pay duties. But you have to give up the VAT chain, which makes the price not so good. You can also take the rejection of the plant, the cards are exactly the same, they cannot be distinguished in any way. In production, they thought that they had less reliability, so they got married. During normal use, such memory cards will not show errors in any way, so it is profitable to sell them, the price for us is minimal, the fat is maximal. We warn our partners about this, everyone is aware of what exactly they are buying and why such a price. In Russia, we do printing, packaging for cards, since such proposals do not have factory packaging.
One of your coworkers complained that he bought a UHS card, and it geeked in a month when used in-camera. He concluded that the SanDisk card was bad, I asked him around and I’m almost sure that he bought a scrap, and not the fact that even SanDisk was inside. Everybody chemists, one way or another, including large retail chains. Buyers often let the product on the left, as there is a benefit that can be cut across all participants in the process. I love the example when covers for Apple were sold from an official partner and they praised that the quality had increased, the Chinese made them better than Apple itself. Observing this circus from the inside, I boldly assert that loot wins everything, you can buy a fake or rejection anywhere, even in company stores. This is a local initiative that is difficult to eradicate, people want to pocket as much as possible.
For it to be profitable to carry something to Russia, several stars must converge. First, the product is in demand and there is little or no product at all. Second, the goods can be compactly transported in the luggage, and the direction of the flight is such that you are sure that you will not be grabbed by the hand. For example, Taiwan and Hong Kong do not pay attention to what you export from there, in China everything is different, you can bring electronics from Shenzhen on an industrial scale, they are used to it. You will not take anything out of Beijing, they will grab you at the airport and make you explain what it is. Sometimes there are months when in China they try to catch everyone, here you just have to wait and not rock the boat, you can lose everything, and at the same time lose your visa and the opportunity to enter the country. This is not a problem for us, since employees travel between countries all the time. But the private driver suffers from this, they are usually caught and punished. This is good for us, the market is cleared of amateurs, no one breaks the prices.
For us, suitcase transportation is the icing on the cake, business optimization, one might say, is a private initiative. Many goods are delivered in containers, ordinary business is larger and more visible, and this is an additional bonus. In Russia, there were no problems at the customs for ten years, a couple of times they stopped and scanned the luggage. We do not carry iPhones, tablets, so there is nothing special to profit from customs. Usually it is not difficult to negotiate with customs officers, you explain that these are gifts to the office, partners, small things. You give samples, maybe you throw 10 thousand rubles on your phone, of course, rubles. And you go home calmly. Life hack, on arrival from luggage, you need to rip off the tags, and if they ask where you came from, you can name a flight from Europe, if there is one at that time. Then you are almost guaranteed not to be watched. Checked, works.
Why are we doing this? This gives good money, and there are almost no risks. There are buyers in Moscow, all goods leave the wheels, they have never burned out on suitcases. Even if the customs begins to rage, we have already earned enough to cover all costs and losses. We do it ourselves, there are no strangers and any complicated schemes. The state turns a blind eye to this, it has larger fish that can be caught, they are not interested in our tricks. And for customs, we are a small fish, we do not bury ourselves and do not try to turn suitcase delivery into a big business. Many have tried such, everything always ends sadly. The main thing is not to bury yourself and paint castles in the sand. ”
To assess why it is possible to import goods, which Vadim described, let’s figure out how the Russian customs is arranged and what the inspectors pay attention to, what can be brought in and how.
Customs clearance of personal belongings: knowledge of the law is power
Customs officers always evaluate the goods that people carry across the border. It is important to understand that there are goods for personal use, and there are goods for commerce, the difference between them is very elusive. For example, the same iPhone can be your personal item, but it can also be considered a commercial product, nuances are important here. Usually on trips I have 5-6 smartphones, two of my main devices, as well as several models with which I work at the moment. Several times I came across at the Russian customs that the inspectors were sluggishly trying to prove that these were commercial devices. But it is quite easy to fight off such claims – I did not have the packaging for the devices in my luggage, they clearly bore traces of use. Attempts to convince me that you can have no more than four telephones with you turn into the fact that the inspectors cannot show the relevant law. Moreover, when they see confidence in their rights and the absence of other goods, as a rule, the skirmish quickly ends and they let me go on all four sides.
If there are more than four smartphones in a package in my luggage, it’s already more difficult to fight back. Customs considers this to be a commercial party; it will be difficult to prove otherwise. A citizen of Russia can bring into the territory of the country personal belongings worth no more than 10 thousand euros and weighing no more than 50 kilograms (by plane), with other types of transport it is 500 euros and no more than 25 kilograms. When you do not need to declare personal belongings, you go to the green corridor; when declaring purchases, you need to go to the red corridor. For example, when buying jewelry for a large amount, you may go to the red corridor and pay 30% of the value exceeding the maximum allowable value (sometimes they think that you need to pay from the total amount of the goods, but this is not the case).
Of the excise items, there are restrictions on the import of alcohol (no more than five liters per adult!), On cigarettes and tobacco. But we are not interested in this issue within the framework of this material.
At customs, inspectors independently assess what you bring into the country. For example, if a girl brings in several fashionable bags in her luggage, they were clearly not in use, then, most likely, when they are found, a fine will be immediately issued. It is easy to estimate the cost of bags, inspectors know very well the prices for various goods, and they proceed from their cost in Russia, and not in another market, this should also be remembered. Some girls try at all costs to avoid paying duties when importing bags for sale, they begin to claim that these are fakes. It seems to me that for the inspectors this is just some kind of holiday, since the counterfeit goods are seized. Usually, such bags eventually turn from the original to counterfeit, and someone gets an LV bag, Chanel or something like that for a penny. Stupidity and ignorance of the law are punished instantly and without any difficulty.
With electronics, everything is much simpler, personal belongings are a loose concept, and if you do not try to pass off large quantities of something for them, then everything will be fine. For example, bringing two new laptops, you almost do not risk anything (the cost on the plane fits into the cost, but on the car or train – no longer, keep this in mind!). Three laptops in a box almost always raises questions and offers to pay the toll, plus a check on everything you carry.
In the golden days of Apple’s gray market, even students bought plane tickets and brought small shipments of iPhones into Russia. At the beginning of sales on Russian flights, they brought not just suitcases, but huge boxes with iPhones, the cost of consignments was millions of dollars. The customs service of the Russian Federation stoically fought off accusations that it did not pay attention to the perforation of the border, through which goods flow in a wide river. But at some point, they stopped turning a blind eye to this, the very “students” who decided to do business on the iPhone, and not only students, but all enterprising people who wanted to earn a pretty penny came under attack.
In March 2011, Apple began selling the second generation iPad. The customs officials were glad that there was work and began to seize these devices. So, at the Domodedovo airport, a 25-year-old boy was stopped, he had 13 tablets and accessories in his luggage, a flight from New York. The second friend on the flight from Houston had seven tablets. Another example is the customs office of Sheremetyevo airport, a woman in 2011 in her personal luggage was taking 150 iPhone 4s from Dubai. The cost of this consignment exceeded 100 thousand dollars.
Stories with the detention of iPhone cargoes and not only them at airports were the norm, but they tried to transport them by land, there were no restrictions at all. In 2017, customs officials were surprised when they started checking a bus coming from China. At the Zabaikalsk checkpoint, a Russian citizen was found to have 680 iPhone 5s / 6s smartphones, the total cost exceeding $ 200. And all these are examples of private initiative, when people did their own small business, risking money in the hope of getting rich. Students borrowed money to catch their luck by the tail, many then returned the lost for a long time and dreary, the fairy tale did not work out. This is the story of private traders who could not put the import of electronics on stream, but some of them evolved and learned to import goods in a completely different way.
Stewardess named Zhanna, as well as Vanya, Kolya and Marina
Risks at customs, as well as the cost of air tickets and their availability, immediately became a bottleneck for any serovar. Airlines have long learned to change the price of tickets depending on certain events. For example, when a concert or football match takes place in such and such a city, the airline predicts an increase in traffic and raises the price of tickets. The beginning of sales of Apple technology changed the prices for flights and made such a trip economically unprofitable for many servo carriers, they were left with crumbs of profit, and the risks were huge.
It is not known who was the first who was able to agree with the crew members on the transportation of goods in personal belongings, but since 2010 it has become a klondike for serovars. If you had access to the crews, then you could import practically unlimited batches of electronics into Russia, the receipts were weekly and rhythmic. As a plus, it should be noted that the crews practically do not inspect for the transport of certain things, the customs turn a blind eye to what is in the luggage. In the same America, the TSA, the aviation security service, is engaged in the inspection of the personal belongings of the crew, while the control of the goods lies not at all with them, and they do not care what is in the suitcases.
The scheme turned out to be so successful for all participants that it turned into a massive story. For example, Aeroflot crews took part in it all the time and transported goods worth tens of millions of dollars a month (proof of this – a little later). One of the Aeroflot employees told how it looked in practice: “It seems that it all started in 2011, my colleague came up to me and asked if I could help smuggle some electronics. I offered to pay for it, so I got a pair of iPads in my suitcase, as well as an iPhone. Colleagues also drove who what, no one drove empty. After a couple of months of such a taxi, I got regular customers, they contacted me and offered fixed prices. They found me clearly on a tip from someone above, since they always knew which flights I was assigned to, they sent me in advance a list of goods that I would need to bring. They knew where I was going to fly even before I knew about it.
Transportation of other people’s belongings is possible only on long flights, when the crew leaves for the city and stays there until the next day. The scheme is organized simply, a person comes to the hotel and brings what needs to be transported – it can be anything, electronics, clothes and shoes, other things. I know the stories when drugs were transported in this way, but I never did it and did not receive any offers about it. “
Here is a story about how Aeroflot employees were caught importing drugs into Russia:
“We can never go and buy what we need in the city. This is an impossible situation. Therefore, the goods are brought to us and handed over to us. We always look at what we are given, we try to evaluate what is in the boxes. If you have any doubts, we refuse, since there is a high probability that you are being used in the dark and drugs or something else, for example, jewelry, are being transferred with you, no one wants to clatter under the article for many years.
All rules prohibit us from borrowing from strangers, but the benefit outweighs these restrictions. Aeroflot is trying to spy on us, squealing is developed, and if initially no one hid that they were engaged in transportation, today everyone is encrypted, there is constant rotation in the crews, you do not know who works next to you. Everyone has their own legend, so my colleague constantly brought cosmetics from Asia for family and friends. For a flight, a kilogram of 10-15 different means is obtained, she earns 300 dollars at a time. It turns out 1000-1200 dollars per month, this is an excellent increase in salary, which is exactly the same at best.
Some of her colleagues photographed her at the moment when she was passing cosmetics to a “friend,” the bosses removed her from profitable flights, but did not fire her, as she is in good standing and does her job. For those who do not have merit, everything turns into dismissal, the company does not stand on ceremony with employees.
The reason we carry goods is because the work is hard and our salaries are low. Pilots receive completely different money, there are those who are greedy for money and also carry something, but these are exceptions. Usually pilots don’t do that.
The company tried to limit the number of pieces of baggage on long flights, earlier we could, as passengers, buy additional seats, now it is impossible – one suitcase and carry-on luggage. The only advantage is that carry-on luggage is not weighed and you can stuff something there. But upon arrival, we go through the same control as everyone else, there are good and bad changes of customs officers. With a good one you can agree more or less well, with a bad one you can also agree, but the price is incredible. Transportation prices have dropped significantly, now everything is not the same, it is profitable as before. ”
In October 2020, the US FBI appealed to a federal court in Brooklyn, accusing a dozen people of smuggling stolen iPhones and other electronics. Investigation documents indicate that 113 Aeroflot employees were involved in the scheme. The airline publicly stated that no employee was involved in anything like this. At the same time, the United States announced that the visas of all employees involved in the transportation of illegal goods had been revoked. The total value of goods transported by only one group over several years was $ 50 million.
The list of the accused living in the United States: Akmal Asadov, Sayyuz Daibagiya, Anton Perevoznikov, Shokhrukh Saidov, Marat Shadkhin, Kirill Sokhonchuk and Zokir Iskander, they were arrested on October 19, 2020 in New York, but Azamat Bobomurodov was detained in Illinois.
The official court documents can be found here.
These documents reveal a scheme that worked for many years, but with the onset of the pandemic and the decrease in the number of flights, it began to decline. Serovos did not disappear at all, but when the work became scarce, people cling to it and try not to risk it. The prices for the transportation of goods have increased, they carry little and only to those they know. There are more clothes, less electronics.
You should not have the illusion that the gray market will disappear and the serovar profession will disappear for good. As long as there is a difference in prices, there will be those who want to create schemes with which you can earn money. New people, who have not been burned before, will persistently create their own “business”, not knowing how to correctly assess the risks. Compared with the 90s and early 2000s, these risks have grown unimaginably, and now it is dangerous to be a servo carrier with a suitcase outside the big scheme. And in the larger scheme, there are no special profits. So, suitcase transportation will live on, and the customs will catch them more and more often, outside of a large passenger flow it has become much easier and more interesting to do.
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