In early August, customs inspectors at the Gongbei port of entry between mainland China and Macau became suspicious of a passenger in an electric wheelchair. Believing the wheelchair appeared to have been modified, officials performed an X-ray inspection of the wheelchair, finding that it was being used to smuggle old mobile phones into China. A customs release obtained by IT Home detailed the discovery.
A Macau resident named Chen entered mainland China on August 3 in an electric wheelchair, going through the “no declaration” queue of the Gongbei Port Passenger Inspection Hall in an electric wheelchair. Customs officers noticed the wheelchair appeared to have modification traces and stopped the man for further inspection.
After noticing abnormalities on the scanned image of the wheelchair, officials began disassembling the mobility aid. They found the battery compartment modified, with 121 old mobile phones stashed away inside.
According to Chinese law, any attempt to evade customs supervision “by hiding, disguising, concealing, falsifying or other means, and transporting, carrying or mailing goods or articles that are prohibited or restricted from entering or leaving the country, or goods or articles that are subject to tax according to law, is considered smuggling.”
While reports don’t indicate whether Chen faces criminal charges for the smuggling, it is certainly possible. Chen could be held criminally liable if the Chinese courts deem the actions serious enough to constitute a crime.
Using electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters to smuggle objects has become increasingly popular. In China alone, at least three incidents in the past year have involved passengers getting caught with items sequestered into hidden compartments in their wheelchairs.
In December 2023, a passenger was found with 300 Nintendo Switch game cartridges hidden in their wheelchair. In two other instances, in August 2023 and March of this year, China’s customs officials seized 328 mobile phones hidden in electric wheelchairs. In another March 2023 incident, a man tried smuggling 84 SSD storage devices inside a recreational scooter.
