Overview
- Youhuang Xiang, a J-1 visa holder, is charged with conspiracy to commit smuggling, smuggling, and making false statements, carrying a potential sentence of up to 20 years and significant fines if convicted.
- Prosecutors say Xiang arranged for plasmid DNA from E. coli to be shipped from China to his Bloomington residence concealed in a package declared as a men’s vest and women’s underwear.
- Customs and Border Protection questioned him in Chicago on November 23 after international travel, and he was first arrested on November 25, with allegations he lied about the package and his ties to the Chinese government.
- Xiang was listed as a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University before his name was removed from a departmental webpage, and investigators noted his published affiliation with a Chinese government‑overseen Key Laboratory.
- His attorney disputes the allegations as false and says the work was legitimate research, while the FBI cites similar recent cases and urges tighter university compliance over biological imports.