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The FBI alleges in a criminal complaint that a University of Waterloo student took photographs of aircraft and facilities at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to send to a Chinese contact. Surveillance footage captures an individual on a forklift taking photos.U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan/Supplied
An Ontario university student is suspected of spying and taking pictures of aircraft and airport facilities in Toronto and Chicago for an unknown person in China, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
On Aug. 23, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers arrested Weiheng Zeng, a Chinese citizen born in 2004, while he attempted to cross the Ambassador Bridge and travel to Detroit, a criminal complaint filed by the FBI states.
Mr. Zeng, an undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo, was charged with one count of making false statements and appeared in court on Tuesday in Detroit, where he is in custody, according to documents filed U.S. district court.
Surveillance footage from April 21 showed Mr. Zeng taking pictures of aircraft and facilities at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to send to a Chinese contact, according to the criminal complaint.
In October, 2025, the same Chinese contact also allegedly directed Mr. Zeng to take pictures of the inside of a FedEx facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport, but he told the FBI he only got photos of the building’s exterior, the complaint states.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.