Four foreign passengers have been caught carrying more than 250 iPhones of the latest models that are worth over $278,000 at an international airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

Customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport confirmed on Tuesday night they had confiscated over 250 iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max gadgets from four U.S. passengers.

They traveled from the United States to Vietnam and were unable to present legitimate documents proving the products’ origin.

The smartphones are estimated to cost VND6.5 billion ($278,544).

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max were first introduced on September 12 and officially released in 33 countries on September 21.

As Vietnam was not among this group of nations, many Vietnamese citizens queued up at the Apple Store in Singapore to be able to purchase the devices.

According to Tran Ngoc Anh, deputy head of the customs department at Tan Son Nhat, mobile phone importers are required to register for quality inspections with the Department of Telecommunications under the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Importers who fail to comply with the rule will be fined and ordered to re-export their products.

Passengers arriving in Vietnam are allowed to freely carry a second mobile phone for personal use.

They, however, must pay a tax if it is worth more than VND10 million ($429).

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