On Monday, June 9th, a third arrest of a Chinese citizen smuggling biological materials into the United States was announced by the Department of Justice’s U.S. Attorney from the Eastern District of Michigan.
U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. made a similar announcement last week when two citizens of the People’s Republic of China were charged with a criminal complaint of conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United states, false statements, and visa fraud.
In both instances, the defendants were smuggling packages containing “Fusarium graminearum,” a species of fungus, which scientific literature classifies as a “potential agroterrorism weapon.”
Monday’s instance accuses Chinese researcher Chengxuan Han of trying to smuggle packages into the country to the same lab at the University of Michigan where the two arrested last week also work.
Han is getting her PhD from the College of Life Science and Technology at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China.
The other two are Yunging Jian, who has received funding from the Chinese government to study the fungus in China and her boyfriend Aunyong Liu who also conducts research at the University of Michigan.
This particular fungus causes “head blight,” a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide every year. The fungus’ toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock.
U.S. Attorney Gorgon stated: “The alleged smuggling of biological materials by this alien (Han) from a science and technology university in Wuhan, China – to be used at a University of Michigan laboratory – is part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security.”
Marty C. Raybon, the director of field operations for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the charges “are indicative of CBP’s critical role in protecting the American people from biological threats that could devastate our agricultural economy and cause harm to humans; especially when it involves a researcher from a major university attempting to clandestinely bring potentially harmful biological materials into the United States.”
FBI Director Kash Patel called it “a sobering reminder that the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences.”
The complaints allege Jian’s electronics contained information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party and Han’s electronics were wiped clean three days before entering the U.S.
Read the Press Release from Monday’s arrest here.
