Spy Mission At Chicago O’Hare? FBI Detains One Man Taking Pictures Of Planes

Something suspicious may have happened at one of America's busiest airports.

Normally, we have all of the ridiculous stories from Chicago O'Hare. To review within the last year alone:

• O'Hare-Bound Flight Diverted, Chants On Intercom
• 'Nonhuman' Meat Found In Weird Chicago-Bound Luggage Seize

• $6.6 Million Of Fake Designer Watches Seized At Illinois Airport

• Police Called To Busy Illinois Airport After Defecation Situation

• Flight From Chicago O'Hare Forced To Return After Toilets Clogged

And now, something that sounds innocent enough but may actually be suspicious. The FBI has a Chinese national man in federal custody after he was caught taking a lot of pictures of planes up on a lift in the cargo area of Chicago O'Hare.

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The suspect is 24-year-old Weiheng Zeng. The FBI says Zeng lied about his motives and was actually working for a Chinese government operative.

Agents say Zeng was going to college in Canada and on April 11th, he came into the U.S. driving a minivan on the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor to Detroit.

He got into Chicago by telling immigration in Detroit that he was planning to visit his sister who went to college in Chicago.

10 days later, that same minivan popped up in the FedEx cargo parking lot at O'Hare. Security video shows him walking around the lot, walking down the fence line, getting onto a construction forklift, trying to open locked trailers, all while taking pictures of the airfield and the planes.

Specifically, agents say he was after United and American jetliners and Atlas cargo planes.

Zeng was sent back to Canada, he tried to return to the U.S. in August which obviously didn't go well and that's when he spilled the beans. Zeng said he was a "hobbyist" taking pictures of the planes but later admitted a "Chinese contact" had hired him to take pictures of specific planes and tail numbers at O'Hare. Zeng believed the contact was tied to the Chinese Communist Party and that the photos would be used for research.

Zeng got clocked on it and is behind bars for now, with the possibility of being indicted on federal espionage charges, which would carry with it decades in prison.