nationals Yunqing Jian — a research fellow at University of Michigan (lsa.umich.edu/mcdb/people/po) — and Zunyong Liu have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the US, false statements, and visa fraud.
The FBI has arrested Jian in connection with allegations related to Jian’s and Liu’s smuggling into America a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon. This noxious fungus causes “head blight,” a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Fusarium graminearum’s toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock.
Jian received government funding for her work on this pathogen in China. Her electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the CCP. Jian’s boyfriend, Liu, works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen.
On July 27, 2024 Liu entered the US at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport and told authorities he was visiting his girlfriend and then returning to China to start his own laboratory in China. He said that he had no work materials, but upon a secondary screening of his luggage, authorities found tissues concealed a note in Chinese, a round piece of filter paper with a series of circles drawn on it, and four clear plastic baggies with small clumps of reddish plant material inside.
Liu told authorities he didn't know how the materials ended up in his bag and suggested someone placed them there without his knowledge, but after further questioning he admitted to placing them in the bag.
Liu attempted to smuggle Fusarium graminearum into America so that he could conduct research on it at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked.
"Liu stated that he intentionally hid the samples in his backpack because he knew there were restrictions on the importation of the materials. Liu confirmed that he had intentionally put the samples in a wad of tissues so CBP Officers would be less likely to find and confiscate them, and he could continue his research in the United States."
Liu wasn't arrested at that time; he was denied entry and sent back to China.
justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/c
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