The Macau Customs Service (SA) said in a statement on Sunday that its officers at the Barrier Gate checkpoint intercepted earlier that day a male mainland border crosser, aged 46, attempting to smuggle four bottles of baijiu (aka shaojiu), totalling two litres, from Macau to the mainland by hiding them inside a modified electric scooter.
According to Wikipedia, baijiu is a Chinese colourless liquor typically coming in between 35 percent and 60 percent of alcohol by volume.
The statement noted that the Macau Customs Service has recently noticed people using electric scooters to smuggle goods to the mainland, so its officers have stepped up screening them. On Sunday evening, customs officers saw a man acting suspiciously as he was using an electric scooter to cross the checkpoint, so they took him to the inspection area to check.
The statement said that the inspection showed that the interior of the scooter, which was suspiciously heavy, had been modified into a secret compartment, where four bottles of baijiu were found.
According to the statement, the suspect admitted to trying to smuggle the bottles of baijiu to the mainland and hand over the contraband to a parallel-trading spot in the mainland to earn some extra money.
The statement noted that the suspect faces a fine of up to 50,000 patacas for violating the External Trade Law.
This undated handout photo provided by the Macau Customs Service (SA) on Sunday shows two contraband bottles of baijiu hidden inside an electric scooter’s secret compartment.
