Overview

• Chengxuan Han was taken into custody at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on June 8 after authorities allege she shipped four undeclared packages containing roundworm-related specimens to a University of Michigan laboratory between September 2024 and March 2025.
• Court filings state that Han made false statements to Customs and Border Protection officers about the packages and wiped her electronic device days before her arrival.
• Her arrest follows charges against Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu, who are accused of conspiring to smuggle a toxic fungus, Fusarium graminearum, for research at the same institution.
• The Justice Department and FBI describe the smuggling as a breach of permit regulations that raises national security and agricultural terrorism concerns tied to CCP efforts to infiltrate U.S. research centers.
• Han remains in custody awaiting a bond hearing as federal investigators continue probing potential accomplices and reinforcing controls on imported biological materials.