A scientist from China has been accused of attempting to bring biological substances into the United States from Wuhan and of misleading authorities about the operation.
Authorities arrested Chengxuan Han on Sunday after she arrived in the U.S. at Detroit Metropolitan Airport following a flight from Shanghai. According to federal documents, she now faces charges of illegally importing items into the country and providing false information to government officials.
This incident marks the third time in recent weeks that a Chinese researcher has been implicated in trying to transport biological materials into the state of Michigan.
According to court filings, customs agents discovered that Han had previously mailed four packages containing “biological material related to round worms” from China to the U.S.
The packages, which were sent during both 2024 and 2025, were reportedly addressed to individuals affiliated with a research lab at the University of Michigan.
When questioned by federal officers, Han allegedly denied having sent any parcels to members of the Michigan lab and claimed the contents were simply plastic cups, not petri dishes, as stated in court records.
Further questioning by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations revealed that Han confessed to shipping the biological samples as part of her academic work. She identified herself as a Ph.D. student at the College of Life Science and Technology at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan.
Officials also discovered that Han had wiped her electronic device just three days before traveling to the U.S., which investigators found suspicious.
“The alleged smuggling of biological materials by Chengxuan Han is a direct threat to public safety and national security, and it severely compromises the integrity of our nation’s research institutions,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, in a statement Monday.
“I applaud the relentless efforts of the FBI Detroit Counterintelligence Task Force, working in close coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations and ICE Homeland Security Investigations Detroit. The FBI in Michigan will aggressively pursue anyone who seeks to harm our country and will deploy every available resource to defend the United States and protect our communities,” Gibson added.
Han had previously been rejected for a U.S. visa on two occasions in March. In one interview with immigration authorities, she reportedly struggled to answer fundamental questions about her background and research.
Despite this, an invitation letter from the University of Michigan confirmed that she had been offered a position as a visiting scholar in one of its laboratories.
Wuhan, the city Han is affiliated with, is widely recognized as the origin point of the COVID-19 outbreak that eventually spread worldwide.
{Matzav.com}
