A Chinese national has been arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport for allegedly smuggling biological material into the United States, marking the second such incident in recent days. Chengxuan Han, a Ph.D. student at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, was taken into custody by the FBI after arriving on a flight from China.According to federal authorities, Han had shipped four packages from China to individuals associated with a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The contents reportedly included biological material related to roundworms, which require a permit to import under U.S. regulations. Some of the shipments were intercepted by authorities last year and earlier this year, with one concealed inside a book.
Had erased her electronic device just days prior: Kash Patel
Speaking on the arrest, FBI director Kash Patel, posted on X: “Yesterday, @FBIDetroit arrested a second Chinese national on charges of smuggling biological materials into the US and lying to federal agents. This individual is Chengxuan Han, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China and a Ph.D. student in Wuhan, China. Han is the third PRC connected individual charged on similar allegations in recent days.”Patel added: “Upon arriving at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on June 8, Han allegedly made false statements to federal officials regarding the packages she had previously mailed — and had erased her electronic device just days prior. In a follow-up interview with FBI and ICE HSI agents, Han admitted to sending the packages and lying about their contents. This case is part of a broader effort from the FBI and our federal partners to heavily crack down on similar pathogen smuggling operations, as the CCP works relentlessly to undermine America’s research institutions.”The FBI’s court filing did not suggest that the material posed an immediate threat, though U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said the smuggling “threatens our security.” John Nowak from US Customs and Border Protection said, “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the U.S. for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars.”Biologist Michael Shapira of UC Berkeley, who reviewed the court documents, said, “It doesn’t strike me as something that is dangerous in any way. But there are rules to ship biological material.”This follows the recent charges against two other Chinese researchers, Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu, who allegedly attempted to smuggle Fusarium graminearum, a dangerous plant fungus described by authorities as a potential “agroterrorism weapon,” into the U.S. Jian was working at the University of Michigan at the time.