Plane spotter or Chinese spy? Ontario university student suspected of espionage at airports

Plane spotter or Chinese spy? Ontario university student suspected of espionage at airports

University of Waterloo student Weiheng Zeng is charged with making false statements in the U.S.

An Ontario university student is suspected of espionage after the FBI said he admitted to accessing airport facilities in Toronto and Chicago to take photos on behalf of a shadowy figure from China.

Weiheng Zeng, himself a Chinese citizen, was arrested in Michigan on Aug. 23 after crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor, Ont. He was charged with one count of making false statements.

Zeng appeared in a federal court in Detroit on Tuesday and agreed to remain in custody as he awaits his trial.

A University of Waterloo undergraduate student born in 2004, Zeng first raised U.S. authorities' suspicions in April, after an incident captured on security video at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by CBC News.

At the time, FedEx employees spotted a man taking photos, climbing a forklift and attempting to open a locked delivery truck and a shipping container in the company's parking lot at the Chicago airport, the criminal complaint said.

According to the complaint, Zeng acknowledged he had climbed the forklift at O'Hare 'to get a better angle to take pictures.'

Investigators later linked Zeng to a dark blue Chrysler Town & Country minivan with Ontario licence plates seen on nearby CCTV.

When he attempted to re-enter the U.S. last month while driving the same vehicle, Zeng told U.S. Customs and Border Protection he was headed to Chicago for a one-day trip. Instead, border officers interviewed him three times.

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And according to the criminal complaint, his story kept changing.

At first, when border agents found numerous photos of military aircraft on his phone, Zeng purportedly said they were for a flight radar website. He said taking pictures of planes was his hobby.

"Zeng's phone was also found to contain pictures of him and other individuals in tactical clothing and in tactical formations, holding rifle-styled firearms," FBI special agent Robert Holbrook wrote in the complaint. Zeng purportedly said the weapon was an airsoft gun.

He denied having any military service or training.

According to the criminal complaint, Zeng eventually said he was being paid by someone — identified in the U.S. court records only as "Chinese contact" — to photograph specific planes and their tail numbers.

Zeng believed his contact worked for a Chinese security service and that it was "cool," according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Zeng said they had met on a Chinese forum for aviation enthusiasts in 2024.

Chinese SIM cards, Huawei phone

Zeng, who lives in Cambridge, Ont., also outlined to investigators a convoluted system he purportedly used to communicate with the unnamed individual, who paid him via bank transfer in Chinese yuan.

The "Chinese contact" would mail Zeng a new SIM card every four to five months, which he was directed to use in his Huawei cell phone, according to the criminal complaint.

"Zeng, at the direction of 'Chinese Contact,' would subsequently destroy the SIM cards, delete the conversations, and delete the photos he took," wrote Holbrook, the FBI agent.

"The SIM card, which was from China Telecom, allowed Zeng to by-pass Canadian cellular network and connect directly with the Chinese provider network to send text messages to 'Chinese Contact.' "

In a separate interview last month with the FBI, Zeng purportedly said his contact had directed him in October 2025 to take photos inside a FedEx facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

He said he was confronted by a FedEx employee and only managed to take pictures outside the building. Still, he said he sent the photos to his contact and received the equivalent of $200 US.

Zeng a flight risk, prosecutor says

At Zeng's first court appearance in Detroit last week, a federal prosecutor said he posed a flight risk and urged that Zeng be held in custody.

"He is a foreign resident and a foreign citizen," assistant U.S. attorney Alyse Wu told the court.

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"According to what is alleged in the complaint, his only known tie to this district appears to be using it as a crossing point to enter our country for what appears to be espionage-type activities."

At another hearing on Tuesday, a court-appointed federal defender said Zeng consented to remain in custody. Speaking through a Mandarin-language interpreter, Zeng confirmed his name and his understanding that he would remain behind bars.

The allegations against him have not been proven in court.

It's unclear what undergraduate program Zeng was enrolled in, or when he first came to Canada.

University of Waterloo spokesperson Pamela Smyth told CBC News in an email, "we don't normally comment on ongoing criminal matters."

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Waterloo police said they weren't involved in the investigation.

The Chinese embassies in Ottawa and Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

If you have a news tip related to this story, contact CBC News senior reporter Thomas Daigle by email: thomas.daigle@cbc.ca.