A Chinese national studying at the University of Waterloo is in U.S. custody after allegedly admitting that he accepted paid assignments from a person he believed worked for Chinese security services to photograph aircraft and airport facilities in Canada and the United States.
Weiheng Zeng, an undergraduate student born in 2004 who lives in Cambridge, Ontario, was arrested Aug. 23 while crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor into Michigan. He has been charged with one count of making false statements to U.S. authorities, according to court documents cited by CBC News and The Canadian Press. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Zeng first drew the attention of U.S. authorities after an incident on April 21 at a FedEx facility at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, according to an affidavit filed by FBI special agent Robert Holbrook. Surveillance footage allegedly showed a man taking photographs near the airfield, climbing onto a forklift and attempting to open a locked FedEx delivery truck and shipping container. Investigators later linked Zeng to an Ontario-registered minivan seen at the facility.
When Zeng attempted to enter the United States again on Aug. 23 in the same vehicle, U.S. border officials questioned him about his previous trip. According to The Canadian Press, investigators alleged that Zeng gave conflicting accounts of his activities in Chicago. He initially said he had photographed aircraft as a hobby and for a flight-tracking website.
Authorities said a search of his phone uncovered numerous photographs of aircraft, including military planes, as well as images showing Zeng and others wearing tactical clothing and holding rifle-style weapons. Zeng told investigators that the weapons were airsoft guns and denied having military training, according to the affidavit.
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During subsequent questioning, however, Zeng allegedly acknowledged that a person in China had given him specific aircraft and tail numbers to photograph and paid him between $20 and $30 for accepted images. According to the FBI affidavit, Zeng said he suspected the person was connected to the Chinese government and later indicated he believed the contact worked for a Chinese security service.
The affidavit states that Zeng and the contact began communicating after meeting through what Zeng described as an online forum for aviation enthusiasts in late 2024. Zeng allegedly told investigators that after several months of communication, the contact asked him for “help,” and that he agreed because he thought the arrangement was “cool.”
Contact allegedly used SIM cards and paid for airport photographs
The FBI alleges that Zeng used a separate Huawei phone and Chinese SIM cards to communicate with the contact. According to CBC News, the contact would mail Zeng a replacement SIM card roughly every four to five months and instruct him to destroy the previous one.
Holbrook wrote in the complaint that Zeng, at the contact’s direction, would destroy the SIM cards and delete their conversations and the photographs he had taken. The China Telecom SIM cards allegedly allowed the phone to connect to a Chinese provider rather than relying on a Canadian cellular network. Zeng also told investigators that payments were transferred in Chinese yuan to a Bank of China account.
Investigators said the Chicago assignment was not the first. In October 2025, the contact allegedly instructed Zeng to photograph the inside of a FedEx facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Zeng told investigators that a FedEx employee confronted him, preventing him from photographing the interior, but that he sent exterior photographs to the contact and received about US$200, according to CBC News.
The Canadian Press reported that Zeng also told investigators he had been asked to travel to locations in Orlando and Las Vegas but claimed he only accepted assignments involving O’Hare and Pearson airports. The affidavit further alleges that the contact was interested not simply in unusual aircraft but in transportation logistics and specific locations around airports.
Former RCMP officer Chris Mathers told The Canadian Press that intelligence services can use seemingly minor assignments as a way of assessing whether a potential source can be developed further. “They cruise around these online forums and … try and attract individuals that might be able to do some work for them,” Mathers said.
Zeng appeared in federal court in Detroit and agreed to remain in custody while the case proceeds. A federal prosecutor argued that he posed a flight risk, saying his only apparent connection to Michigan was its use as a crossing point for what the government described as possible “espionage-type activities.” Zeng has not been charged with espionage.
The University of Waterloo told its student newspaper, Imprint, that it does not normally comment on ongoing criminal investigations. The university has not publicly identified Zeng’s undergraduate program.
The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa rejected suggestions of Chinese espionage involvement. In a response reported by CBC News, an embassy spokesperson said China “firmly opposes hyping up the so-called ‘China spy threat’ and baseless speculations and smears against China.”
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