Passenger caught using electric wheelchair to smuggle more than 100 mobile phones into China

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 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. 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.