{"id":1541030,"date":"2025-06-11T02:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T06:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1541030"},"modified":"2025-06-11T02:15:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T06:15:00","slug":"wuhan-researcher-charged-with-smuggling-biological-materials-into-us-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wuhan-researcher-charged-with-smuggling-biological-materials-into-us-lab\/1541030\/","title":{"rendered":"Wuhan Researcher Charged With Smuggling Biological Materials Into US Lab"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wuhan Researcher Charged With Smuggling Biological Materials Into US Lab<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

U.S. prosecutors have charged another Chinese national for smuggling biological materials into the United States and lying about the scheme.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Petri dishes and notes found in intercepted packages that Chinese researcher Han Chengxuan allegedly smuggled into the United States. Department of Justice<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Han Chengxuan<\/strong>, a PhD candidate from Wuhan in central China, was arrested<\/a> upon landing at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on June 8. An FBI agent said authorities had intercepted four packages of biological materials that Han allegedly sent to members of a University of Michigan laboratory.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She was the third Chinese national charged in a week for smuggling materials for biological research. The previous two<\/a>, accused of smuggling a crop-killing fungus, include a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan\u2019s Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction. The criminal complaint said Han was a Chinese Communist Party member who has shown loyalty to the Party.<\/p>\n

The complaint said Han admitted to shipping an estimated five to 10 packages, but several were lost in transit. She said that her professors at both the Chinese and U.S. universities, as well as the recipients, had no knowledge of what she sent, characterizing them as a \u201csurprises,\u201d according to the FBI agent.<\/p>\n

The packages contain neither the correct documentation nor the permit required for importing roundworm-related materials, the complaint noted.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The shipments allegedly went to two recipients: one active member of the lab and another among the faculty and staff at the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n

Han initially lied to the customs agents at the airport about the content of the packages, claiming they were plastic cups and a book, according to a court filing. Pressed, she admitted that the packages contained petri dishes of nematode growth medium for growing roundworms, as well as small circular DNA molecules called plasmids in an envelope,<\/strong> the FBI agent said.<\/p>\n

Han, who is studying at the College of Life Science and Technology in the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, arrived on an exchange visitor visa; she has an offer letter presenting her as a visiting scholar to the Michigan lab, according to prosecutors. Han told the FBI that she was coming to the University of Michigan for one year for her research on roundworms.<\/p>\n

She stated that she had produced the desired plasmids using E. coli, isolated and injected them into roundworms as a primary method for her research<\/strong>, according to the filing. The FBI agent noted that plasmids are often used as a vehicle for introducing genetic modifications in organisms like roundworms.<\/p>\n

Han\u2019s immigration paperwork said she researches how animals detect sensory cues such as touch, chemicals, and light, and how neural circuits process such information for behavioral outcome, and how genes and drugs affect such processes, the complaint said. She has co-authored two research<\/a> papers<\/a> on roundworms, known scientifically as C.elegans.<\/p>\n

A U.S. consular officer initially rejected Han\u2019s J1 visa application on March 18 due to her struggle to conduct the interview in English,<\/strong> which was essential for her obtaining the visa. She secured the visa successfully nine days later, with an officer noting that she \u201cspoke credibly about her educational background, current studies, and post graduate plans,\u201d the complaint stated.<\/p>\n

Han tried to conceal the content of the shipment with written notes and a book, including one reading: \u201cHello! This is a fun letter with interesting patterns. I hope you can enjoy the pleasure within it,\u201d according to the court document.<\/p>\n

Labels on the same note contain terms consistent with roundworm research, the filing said. Han allegedly told the customs agent she created a \u201cpicture game\u201d in the book and that the recipient of her note would sequence the plasmids\u2014a process each taking about a week\u2014to identify what they were \u201cfor fun,\u201d the filing said.<\/p>\n

Han allegedly deleted the content of her electronic device before coming to the United States. She stated she wanted to \u201cstart afresh\u201d when questioned by federal agents.<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Jerome Gorgon, said the alleged smuggling from a Wuhan university marks \u201cpart of an alarming pattern that threatens our security.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Nowak, Customs and Border Protection\u2019s acting director of field operations, said the alleged actions compromise the integrity of U.S. research institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guidelines for importing biological materials into the U.S. for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,\u201d he said, adding that his agency will not tolerate the smuggling of \u201cpotentially dangerous goods\u201d through U.S. ports of entry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nTue, 06\/10\/2025 – 22:15<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/medical\/wuhan-researcher-charged-smuggling-biological-materials-us-lab<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wuhan Researcher Charged With Smuggling Biological Materials Into US Lab Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), U.S. prosecutors have charged another…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1541031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1541030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1541030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1541031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1541030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1541030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1541030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}