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3w ago

Chinese Researchers Charged with Smuggling Crop-Killing Pathogen into U.S.

Federal officials say the scheme exploited gaps in biosecurity by aiming to conduct unapproved research at a University of Michigan laboratory.

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Overview

  • Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu face federal indictment on conspiracy, smuggling, false statements and visa fraud charges for bringing Fusarium graminearum into the United States.
  • Fusarium graminearum causes head blight in wheat, barley, maize and rice and produces mycotoxins linked to liver damage, reproductive defects and vomiting in humans and livestock.
  • Customs agents intercepted Liu at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in July 2024 with concealed samples, after which he was deported and is unlikely to face charges unless he returns.
  • Jian was arrested in early June 2025 following an FBI investigation that uncovered her membership in the Chinese Communist Party and receipt of government funding for related pathogen research.
  • The FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection continue probing potential biosecurity lapses and patterns of foreign government influence in American research institutions.