Smugglers have been caught out using a sewer pipe to illegally transport mobile phones between Hong Kong and mainland China.

The group are reported to have rented an apartment in Shatoujiao, on the Chinese border and then dug a tunnel down to a sewer pipe which runs into Hong Kong. The booty was then transported through the pipe and collected by a van.

The smugglers reportedly spent nearly 20 days digging the tunnel and transported three batches of goods through it.

Shenzhen Customs officials have so far captured seven people and seized a van. Around 900 mobile phones and 120,000 electronic chips, thought to be worth almost $200,000 were confiscated.