Another Chinese National Arrested For Smuggling ‘Biological Materials’ Into U.S.
A Chinese national from Wuhan studying for a PhD was arrested on Sunday for attempting to smuggle “biological materials” into a laboratory at the University of Michigan, the Department of Justice announced on Monday.
The arrest of Chengxuan Han at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport is the second time this month that a Chinese citizen with connections to the University of Michigan has been charged with smuggling potential biological threats into the country. According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, Han sent four packages containing “concealed biological material” from China to the United States. The packages were all addressed to people “associated with a laboratory at the University of Michigan,” the DOJ said in a press release.
“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. The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions.”
Han is studying at a university in Wuhan — the city where the COVID virus likely leaked from a lab before it shut down the world’s economies and killed millions of people. The Chinese PhD student was questioned by Customs and Border Protection officers at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Sunday. During the questioning, Han “made false statements about the packages and the biological materials she had previously shipped to the United States,” which she later admitted to the FBI, according to the DOJ.
Han also allegedly told the FBI that she had previously sent the packages and said that they contained biological material related to roundworms, a parasitic worm that can “pose major problems in corn, soybean, peanut and other crops,” according to the U.S. government. There are many species of roundworms, many of which are uncommon in the United States. Some can cause health issues for humans, such as abdominal pain, fever, and diarrhea, if they get into the digestive system, the Cleveland Clinic states.
The arrest of Chengxuan Han at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport is the second time this month that a Chinese citizen with connections to the University of Michigan has been charged with smuggling potential biological threats into the country. According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, Han sent four packages containing “concealed biological material” from China to the United States. The packages were all addressed to people “associated with a laboratory at the University of Michigan,” the DOJ said in a press release.
“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. The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions.”
Han is studying at a university in Wuhan — the city where the COVID virus likely leaked from a lab before it shut down the world’s economies and killed millions of people. The Chinese PhD student was questioned by Customs and Border Protection officers at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Sunday. During the questioning, Han “made false statements about the packages and the biological materials she had previously shipped to the United States,” which she later admitted to the FBI, according to the DOJ.
Han also allegedly told the FBI that she had previously sent the packages and said that they contained biological material related to roundworms, a parasitic worm that can “pose major problems in corn, soybean, peanut and other crops,” according to the U.S. government. There are many species of roundworms, many of which are uncommon in the United States. Some can cause health issues for humans, such as abdominal pain, fever, and diarrhea, if they get into the digestive system, the Cleveland Clinic states.
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