Biological smuggling: US arrests Chinese national linked to Wuhan, second case in a month
PTC News Desk: A Chinese national and Ph.D student linked to Wuhan was arrested and charged in the US for smuggling biological material related to parasitic roundworms and providing false information to federal authorities about the shipments.
The suspect has been identified as Chengxuan Han who is a researcher at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan. She was taken in custody by the FBI after arriving at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on June 8.
"Yesterday, Detroit arrested a second Chinese national on charges of smuggling biological materials into the US and lying to federal agents," wrote Kash Patel, FBI director on X (formerly Twitter). "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."
Federal charging documents state that Han dispatched four separate packages from China to researchers at a University of Michigan laboratory, each containing classified biological material tied to roundworms—substances that require specific import permits under U.S. law. Authorities say one shipment was camouflaged inside a book.
Her shipments, including an envelope stuffed inside a book, were intercepted last year and earlier this year and opened by authorities, the FBI said.
The government last week charged two Chinese scientists who are accused of conspiring to smuggle a toxic fungus into the U.S. One was turned around at the Detroit airport and sent back to China last year, while the other, a researcher at the University of Michigan, was arrested. She remains in custody.
- With inputs from agencies
