Two Chinese citizens were charged with a conspiracy and smuggling of a fungus that officials said is a “dangerous biological pathogen” into the United States.
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, were charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the country, false statements and visa fraud on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Jian was arrested by the FBI on allegations that Jian and Liu smuggled a fungus into the country called Fusarium graminearum, which U.S. officials said scientific literature classified as a “potential agroterrorism weapon.”
The fungus causes disease in barley, wheat, rice, and maize and is responsible for billions of dollars of economic losses around the world, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The toxins from the fungus cause liver damage, vomiting and reproductive defects in both livestock and humans.
Jian allegedly received funding from the Chinese government to research the pathogen in China, and her electronics had information showing her “membership in and loyalty” to the Chinese Communist Party, according to the complaint
The complaint also alleged that Liu works at a Chinese university where he researches the pathogen and that he initially lied but later admitted to smuggling the fungus through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport so that he could keep researching the pathogen at a laboratory at the University of Michigan, the school Jian, his girlfriend, works at.
“These individuals exploited their access to laboratory facilities at a local university to engage in the smuggling of biological pathogens, an act that posed an imminent threat to public safety,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office.
Jian appeared in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday.
“This case is 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… putting American lives and our economy at serious risk,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Tuesday statement on social media platform X.
A University of Michigan student, Haoxiang Gao, who is a Chinese national, was charged with illegally voting in the U.S., according to a complaint unsealed on Friday.
