In recent days, China caught several of its citizens smuggling in Apple's iPhone 6 models ahead of the phone's legitimate release.

Chinese officials reported Sunday their latest seizure was in Shanghai where they confiscated 453 handsets.

During three separate busts from Thursday through Saturday, hundreds more of the smartphones were seized in Hong Kong. The phones were seized from individuals on a speedboat loading the smuggled goods onto a sampan-style wooden boat in a mangrove, said the official Xinhua News Agency.

Like Us on Facebook

The most recent seizure was from two passengers who arrived at Shanghai airport from Tokyo. A woman with the customs agency confirmed a state media reports and said one the two smugglers was Chinese and the other was Japanese.

She also said hundreds more Apple devices have been confiscated individually from passengers who either forgot to or deliberately didn't declare the items.

Apple delayed its initial plans to launch the iPhone 6 in China earlier in the month. It  didn't respond to reports it had still not received approval from the Chinese regulatory board.

The existing phone black market in China, where Apple goes head-to-head against cheaper selections from Lenovo, Samsung and local handset manufacturer Xiaomi, has drawn a rebuke in Chinese state media.

In an editorial published Friday, the Global Times said the iPhone 6 fever was making the country "lose face." It said while iPhones are part of current trends, buyers shouldn't get swept away by the advertising and marketing hypes.

"Please show that you despise those who already have the iPhone 6," the editorial read.

News and video reports showed a tussle among Chinese lining up at an Apple store in the United States.

TagsSmugglers, contraband, apple iphone 6, Apple iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6 Plus Release, iphone 6 release date, Xinhua News Agency, Xinhua News