Chinese student accused of photographing planes for overseas contact

DETROIT — A Chinese national studying at a college in Canada has been charged in the U.S. after federal authorities said he admitted to trespassing at properties near airports to take photos of airplanes that he sent to a mysterious figure whom he believed to be an employee of the Chinese government.

A 20-page complaint filed Wednesday in Detroit's federal court charges Weiheng Zeng with making false statements.

Authorities said the student was found on surveillance footage, trespassing in a FedEx employee parking lot in Chicago in April and taking photos of aircraft at the nearby O'Hare International Airport.

According to court documents, when he attempted to return to the U.S. on Sunday, Aug. 23, he was repeatedly questioned by border patrol agents and the FBI, ultimately telling investigators that he had been paid a few hundred bucks to take photos of specific aircraft, send them to a contact in China, then destroy the evidence.

Online court records do not list an attorney for Zeng to comment. Court documents describe him as an undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. He's been studying in Canada on a B1/B2 visa that he was issued in 2022, according to the criminal complaint.

University of Waterloo representatives did not immediately return messages seeking information about Zeng's studies at the school.

Climbing on a forklift in Chicago

Authorities said Zeng has entered the U.S. around 24 times since his visa was issued, including on April 11, when he drove a dark blue Chrysler Town & Country into Detroit via the Ambassador Bridge.

At the border, he told U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents that he was entering the U.S. to visit his sister in Chicago for a week and a half.

Ten days later, employees at a FedEx location at O'Hare International Airport saw an unknown individual in the employee parking lot. He lingered for about 20 minutes, according to the complaint, and was seen taking photos, walking the fence line and attempting to open locked trailers. He also climbed onto a parked forklift and appeared to take photos, either of a parked aircraft or other areas of the airport.

FedEx surveillance footage indicated that the individual was a male of Asian descent, authorities allege in court documents.

Additional surveillance video captured a dark blue Town & Country arriving in the employee parking lot shortly before the man was seen taking photos.

Zeng allegedly re-entered Canada via the Windsor Detroit Tunnel on April 23, two days after the FedEx parking lot incident.

American law enforcement later established that the license plate on Zeng's Town & Country matched the plate on the vehicle seen at the FedEx parking lot at the Chicago airport, according to the complaint.

On Aug. 23, Zeng allegedly attempted to re-enter the U.S. via the Ambassador Bridge. He was again driving a dark blue Town & Country with the same license plate. This time, he was accompanied by two other individuals, whom he identified as his sister and his classmate. He said the three were making a one-day trip to Chicago.

Border patrol agents referred him for a secondary inspection based on the incident at the FedEx parking lot.

Authorities interviewed Zeng three separate times over the next several hours, according to the complaint.

The first interview

Zeng told investigators that he was returning to the U.S. to drop his sister off in Chicago, where she attends school. He added that his classmate, a university student studying aviation and geography, initially planned to fly Zeng and his sister from Ontario to Chicago, but they opted to drive due to bad weather.

When agents asked him about his April trip to Chicago, Zeng initially said he spent his time there visiting the zoo, Buckingham Memorial Fountain and Trump Tower, which is located in New York. When agents pressed him on this discrepancy, Zeng said he may have been confusing his Chicago trip with a prior trip to New York.

When authorities inspected Zeng's phone, they found photos of aircraft, including military equipment.

"When questioned about those photos, ZENG stated that he takes pictures of model aircraft being tracked for a flight radar website," the complaint said.

The phone also contained photos of Zeng and other individuals "in tactical clothing and in tactical formations, holding rifle-style firearms," the complaint stated.

Zeng allegedly explained that the weapons were airsoft guns, which shoot small, lightweight plastic pellets, and that he had no military service or training, nor any family in the military.

The second interview

During the second interview, Zeng allegedly modified his story, telling investigators he took photos of planes from a public parking lot about 10 minutes away from the Chicago airport. When CBP officers questioned his veracity, Zeng admitted that he took the photos at a FedEx facility, where he had climbed on a forklift to get a better angle.

He also admitted to previously trespassing at a FedEx facility at Toronto Pierson Airport, where he was caught by an employee and told he was not allowed to be there, according to court documents.

When agents asked Zeng why and for whom he was taking photos, he said he was an aviation hobbyist and that one plane at the FedEx facility in Chicago was an "'M[D] 11' that was rare and soon to be out of commission because of accidents," the complaint states. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is a four-engine widebody aircraft introduced in 1990 that now primarily serves as a freighter.

The third interview

During his third interview, Zeng allegedly revealed to investigators that a Chinese contact paid him $20 to $30 for pictures of specific planes.

Zeng provided authorities with his contact's screen name, which is redacted in the criminal complaint. He also told authorities he suspected the contact was an employee of the Chinese government because "the language he used was very organized and managed, not language typically used between friends," the complaint states.

He said that he had met the overseas contact on a Chinese online forum for aviation enthusiasts in late 2024 and that the contact at one point sent him an image of a badge that included an image of Tiananmen Square and the Chinese five-star symbol. The contact had also sent him "videos of scenes than only security officials would have access to," the complaint states.

After months of messaging on the online forum, Zeng agreed to take photos for the contact because it was "cool" and he wanted "the opportunity to work with someone like (agents) at the FBI," according to the complaint.

He went on to tell authorities he was directed to delete all messages with his Chinese contact, to use a Chinese-made cellphone and SIM card that allowed him to bypass Canadian cellular networks and to never take his phone or SIM card into the U.S.

Zeng said he received a new SIM card every four or five months by mail from his overseas contact and would destroy each old card by burning it with a lighter.

He said that in total he had made the Chinese equivalent of $500 for his work, even though the Chinese contact was not fully satisfied with his photographs, according to the complaint.

The contact in China also told Zeng that, if he were questioned about his activities in Chicago, to say he was getting photos of a rare MD-11 aircraft, as well as a plane with a unique paint job.

In addition to photos, Zeng said the Chinese contact asked him for information regarding flight freight logistics, as well as bus and train routes. He had also been asked to visit locations in Orlando, Las Vegas and Los Angeles to take photos of specific locations surrounding airports. He told authorities he did not accept those jobs.

False statements

Following the interviews, FBI agents tried to investigate the online forum that Zeng mentioned but "found that it does not appear to exist." They also concluded that Zeng lied about whether he still possessed a SIM card sent by the Chinese contact.

Based on that, Zeng has been charged with making false statements.

The federal crime is generally punishable by up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

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