Second Chinese National charged with smuggling biological materials into US at Metro Airport

Another Chinese science researcher charged with smuggling bio materials at DTW

Chengxuan Han, a Chinese National, is accused of smuggling roundworms into the United States and false statements, announced United States Attorney's Office Eastern District.

FOX 2 - Another Chinese scientific researcher has been arrested and charged with smuggling biological materials into the US for work at a University of Michigan laboratory.

Chengxuan Han, a Chinese National, is accused of smuggling roundworms into the United States and false statements, announced United States Attorney's Office Eastern District.

Dig deeper:

According to the complaint, Han is pursuing a Ph.D. from the College of Life Science and Technology in the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China.

In 2024 and 2025, Han sent four packages to the United States from China containing concealed biological material. These packages were addressed to individuals associated with a laboratory at U-M.

"Great work by the FBI, these cases are never easy to put together, said Bill Kowalski.

Kowalski spent nearly three decades at the FBI and during his tenure he served as the No. 2 official in charge of counter terrorism and counter intelligence in Michigan

He says the recent arrests are not surprising.

"These have been predicted for a long time within the FBI," he said. "I am aware mostly from media reports of the danger of this fungicide that they had here and its possible weaponization. Clearly this was a high national security threat."

Federal investigators say on June 8, 2025, Han arrived at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on a J1 visa. Customs and Border Protection officers conducted an inspection of Han, during which Han made false statements about the packages and the biological materials she had previously shipped to the United States.

CBP officers also found that the content of Han’s electronic device had been deleted three days prior to her arrival in the United States.

After the border inspection, Han was interviewed by FBI agents where she admitted to sending the packages, and said the packages contained biological material related to round worms, adding she made false statements to the CBP officers during her inspection.

Han will be appearing Monday afternoon in federal court in Detroit.

"The alleged smuggling of biological materials by this alien from a science and technology university in Wuhan, China — to be used at a University of Michigan laboratory — is part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security," said US Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. in a statement. "The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions.

The case is part of a wider agroterrorism smuggling investigation involving scientific researchers from China studying at the University of Michigan.

The backstory:

Yunqing Jian was arrested and appeared in federal court last week, accused of smuggling a dangerous crop-destroying fungus. Her hearing was delayed until Friday so she could hire a private attorney.

The 33-year-old and her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, allegedly worked together to bring a fungus that damages wheat and other grains into the country.  

According to the complaint, customs officials found the fungus stashed in the boyfriend's backpack as he was traveling through Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Liu told officials he wanted to conduct research on it at the University of Michigan, where his girlfriend worked.

A deeper search revealed a document titled "2018 Plant-Pathogen Warfare Under Changing Climate Conditions" on the man's cellphone.

Customs officers denied him entry and sent him back to China.

A later search of his girlfriend's phone uncovered a form describing her membership in the Chinese Communist Party.