A steward of the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has been caught red-handed bringing 50 iPhone 5S, the newest version of Apple-made smartphone, from Paris, France to Hanoi, Vietnam without declaration.

Bui Ngoc Tuan, who boarded the VN106 flight that arrived at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi at 6:25 am on Sunday, was found carrying 50 iPhone 5S in his luggage without declaring to any airport security personnel.

The security watchdog then made a minute on the discovery and transferred Tuan and all the 50 smartphones to the Hanoi police department for economic crime investigation (PC46).    A representative of Vietnam Airlines said it will not condone any violations of its employees, and stressed that it will strictly handle any misconducts.

A spokesman of the investigation authorities said as this is a serious smuggling case by air with big value, so in addition to the confiscation of the smuggled goods, the authorities may consider proceeding a criminal charge against the smuggler.

A mobile phone retailer in Hanoi told newswire VnExpress that due to rising local demand for the handset since it was officially launched on September 20, local traders are attempting to import it to Vietnam as quickly as possible so that they can sell at higher prices.

Each 16GB version of the iPhone 5S is currently sold for VND22-28 million ($987-$1,316) as local supply could not meet the rising demand. The handset, which is officially sold at around $649 for the same version internationally, has yet to be officially distributed in Vietnam.

But it has been reported that some of the 16GB iPhone 5S version has been sold at VND37 million ($1,740) each, and some dealers even shoot the price up to VND47-50 million ($2,200-2,350) due to shortage of supply.