Additional Coverage:
Detroit Airport Sees Second Arrest in Days Over Suspected Biological Material Smuggling
Detroit (AP) — Federal authorities arrested a Chinese scientist at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Sunday, marking the second such incident in recent days involving alleged smuggling of biological material.
The scientist, arriving from China, is accused of sending biological material, described by the FBI as related to certain worms, to University of Michigan laboratory staff several months prior. The shipments, which allegedly included an envelope concealed within a book, were intercepted and inspected by authorities. Importation of such material requires a government permit.
“The regulations for bringing biological materials into the US for research are rigorous but straightforward,” stated John Nowak, head of field operations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “Actions like this compromise the legitimate research conducted by other visiting scholars.”
The scientist, pursuing an advanced degree at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, intended to spend a year at the University of Michigan working on a research project.
While the court filing does not specify whether the material is considered hazardous, U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. emphasized that such smuggling “threatens our security.”
This arrest follows last week’s charges against two other Chinese scientists accused of conspiring to smuggle a toxic fungus into the U.S. One was denied entry at Detroit’s airport last year and returned to China, while the other, a University of Michigan researcher, remains in custody.