Here's a story to make any tea-drinking Englishman go red in the face. Officials at Liantang Port, Guangdong, have intercepted a passenger attempting to smuggle 350 Nintendo Switch cartridges through Chinese customs. Her method? Packing them into her bra. Oh my (thanks, Tom's Hardware).
Wipe up the mouthful of Earl Grey we're sure you've just spat across the room, it's time for the details.
According to a customs release obtained by Hong Kong News (and translated via Google), the woman apparently "looked nervous and behaved abnormally" as she attempted to pass the airport's checks, leading to the officials pulling her aside for further questioning.
The 350 Switch cartridges that were found... about her person *ahem* were estimated to be worth a whopping 70,000 yuan (around £7,600 / $9,600, if you were wondering).
As is the case for most nations, bringing any undeclared goods through customs is a big no-no and is considered smuggling. According to China's General Administration of Customs, assuming the cartridges are not considered prohibited items, the officials will confiscate them and may "impose a fine of not more than three times the amount of duties payable but evaded". Yikes.
This isn't the first time that we have seen Nintendo goods plucked away at customs — even if the smuggling method is a new one. 7.6 tons of fake Pokémon cards were seized in 2021 before they could make their way into Europe, and 2020 saw 86,000 counterfeit Pokémon figurines land the same fate.