Gongbei’s Customs Administration announced in a statement yesterday that its officers found a man attempting to smuggle bottles of Maotai into Zhuhai by hiding them inside a baby carrier early this week.

The Gongbei customs also busted two cases early this week in which the travellers attempted to smuggle bottles of Maotai into Zhuhai, one case in which a bottle was hidden inside a thermal lunch box and the other case in which the traveller hid bottles around his waist.

The first two cases were detected on Sunday, while the third case was busted the next day. The three travellers, all men, comprise two Macau residents and a mainlander.

In the first case, a local man surnamed Lei with a small child in a baby carrier was walking through the “nothing to declare” channel at the Gongbei checkpoint. When custom officers intercepted Lei they found two bottles of Maotai hidden in the baby carrier and also two such bottles in his backpack, the statement said.

In the second case which was discovered later the same day, a mainlander surnamed Liu carrying a thermal lunch box was walking through the “nothing to declare” channel at the Gongbei checkpoint. Custom officers intercepted Liu and found that his thermal lunch box, which was full of food, weighed “abnormally”. After a further check, the officers found a bottle of Maotai wrapped in a plastic bag hidden in the lunch box, the statement said.

In the third case which was busted on Monday, a local man surnamed Ng wearing an overcoat was walking through the “nothing to declare” channel at the Gongbei checkpoint. Customs officers intercepted Ng, a thin man, after spotting that his belly was “abnormally” large. After a further check, the officers found six bottles of Maotai hidden around his waist and three such bottles in his bag, the statement said.

This undated handout photo provided by the Gongbei Customs yesterday shows how a man had hidden Maotai bottles around his waist in his attempt to smuggle the bottles into Zhuhai via the checkpoint on Monday.