Passenger with electric wheelchair caught smuggling over 100 mobile phones into China
In early August, customs inspectors at the Gongbei border crossing between mainland China and Macau became suspicious of a passenger in an electric wheelchair. Believing the wheelchair had been modified, officials conducted an X-ray examination of the wheelchair and found that it had been used to smuggle old mobile phones into China. A customs notice obtained by IT Home details the discovery.
A Macau resident surnamed Chen entered mainland China in an electric wheelchair on August 3, passing through the “no customs declaration” queue at the passenger inspection hall of Gongbei Port. Customs officials noticed that the wheelchair showed obvious signs of alteration and stopped the man for further inspection.
After noticing anomalies in the scanned image of the wheelchair, officers began dismantling the walker. They discovered that the battery compartment had been tampered with and 121 old cell phones were hidden inside.
Under Chinese law, any attempt to evade customs supervision by “hiding, disguising, concealing, counterfeiting or otherwise transporting, carrying or shipping any goods or articles which are prohibited or restricted for import or export into the country or which are subject to taxation under law” is considered smuggling.
Although there is no indication in the reports whether Chen will face criminal charges for the smuggling, it is entirely possible. Chen could be held criminally liable if Chinese courts deem the acts serious enough to constitute crimes.
Smuggling items using power wheelchairs and mobility scooters has become increasingly popular. In China alone, there were at least three incidents last year in which passengers were caught hiding items in hidden compartments of their wheelchairs.
In December 2023, a passenger was caught with 300 Nintendo Switch game cartridges in his wheelchair. In two other cases, in August 2023 and March this year, Chinese customs officials seized 328 mobile phones hidden in electric wheelchairs. In another incident in March 2023, a man attempted to smuggle 84 SSD storage devices in a recreational scooter.
