This trick has taken place at Beijing Central Station on boarding the Trans-Mongolian railway. It is an early morning departure and passengers may not be so wide-awake and alert at that time of the morning!
A traveller is approached by a Mongolian lady on the platform and asked if they can help carry her boxes or bags onto the train. The ideal victim is likely to be a young, naïve looking, male solo traveler from the west, though others may also be targeted. The traveller may assume that the lady has asked because they are heavy and he is a strong, young man.
It is unclear how the lady has accessed the platform, as it is necessary to pass through ticket control first. Either she has bought a ticket that she doesn’t use or she has somehow managed to get around the ticket check process.
On boarding, it is thought that the lady, speaking in Chinese or Mongolian, will explain to the guard checking tickets that she is with the westerner and seeing him off as she may not have a ticket for herself and would otherwise be refused boarding. The westerner will not be able to understand this of course unless they can speak the language.
The person asked to help will be requested to put the boxes or bags somewhere in their compartment. At the time it will appear that the lady has a ticket for the same compartment. However, just before the train leaves she will say something like “please look after these until Ulaanbaatar. Somebody will get on there to collect them”. It is known that small, vials of liquid are smuggled in boxes of vegetables in this way. The liquid could be some sort of medicine or illegal drug.
Possible Solutions
Do not agree to look after anyone’s luggage. Clearly it is best to clear up any problem before the train departs Beijing, though there may be communication difficulties that hinder doing so. There may also be limited time before the train departs.
If anyone finds themselves having been passed such contraband and in the worrying situation of wondering what to do before they get caught and risk spending several years in a Chinese or Mongolian prison (they will soon have to pass through customs and immigration control) there are a few options open to them.
They can report it to the train staff, however, it has been known for them to insist that it is their luggage because they will not want to take responsibility for it. If this happens then they may be able to get rid of it somehow when the train makes a stop along the way, but this will be difficult to do discretely. Whatever happens it is obviously not a good idea to be found with contraband at the border!
Richard Milnes - Richard was born in London, England, but has since spent much of his life travelling the world and has visited nearly 50 ...
