Where there’s a will, there’s a way. As long as there’s a demand for goods from Hong Kong in China, parallel traders will seemingly go to any length to smuggle said goods across the border.
Apparently, that “length” right now comes via the medium of wheelchairs.
Authorities at the Shenzhen border crossing have seen a rise in the number of wheelchair-bound passengers recently, up to as many as 100 a day.
According to a news report by Sing Tao Daily, the supposedly disabled tourists are hired by parallel goods traders to carry goods past customs via priority channels.
The smugglers also apparently hold fake disability certificates purchased in mainland China for a nominal fee.
Videos taken by netizens show some of the wheelchair-bound tourists either picking up goods such as milk powder and food in Hong Kong, or crossing the border via Sheung Shui and Lo Wu/Lok Ma Chau, loaded with with bags and boxes.
Wheelchair users are not required to have their luggage weighed at the border and can use priority lines that apparently suffer less scrutiny from customs.
Here’s to hoping that this practice doesn’t catch on in the event that people with actual disabilities start being flung from their wheelchairs in misguided “ah-ha!” moments.
Photo: Screenshot from Face Magazine
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‘Smugglers’ allegedly using prams to transport frozen meat instead of their actual children
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