Customs and Excise officers foiled on Tuesday an attempt to smuggle into the country more than 16,000 cell phones, estimated to be worth Rp 4.5 billion, which had been secreted in kitchen sink containers and had the potential to cause Rp 560 million in state losses.

Head of the Central Java and Yogyakarta regional office of the Customs and Excise Directorate General, Nazar, said the smuggled goods comprised 522 BlackBerry 8520s, four BlackBerry 9670s, 15,510 XCCM cell phones and 17 boxes of cell phone accessories.

The 40-foot container that held hundreds of boxes packed with kitchen sinks was initially transported on board the APL Florida, which departed China on May 11, and was then moved to MV Kota Taman in Singapore on May 16, arriving in Semarang's Tanjung Emas Port on May 22.

The goods were imported by PT CJT, Semarang, which had imported 20 containers of the same goods within the month.

Nazar said the company had been categorized by the Customs and Excise Directorate General as a high-risk importer or belonging to the red-lane category, adding that its imported goods were always thoroughly examined.

"On May 28, our officers found cell phones in one of the containers, while the documentation only mentioned 887 kitchen sinks," Nazar said.

The customs examination revealed that 40 percent of the shipment comprised boxes containing cell phones.

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