US: Chinese Nationals Smuggled Pathogen

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Two Chinese nationals, including a scholar at the University of Michigan, were arrested for allegedly smuggling a pathogen into the U.S. that is known to be destructive to corn, wheat, rice and barley crops, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court on Monday.

Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People's Republic of China, were charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the U.S., false statements and visa fraud, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The U.S. Attorney Office in Detroit said in a news release on Tuesday the FBI arrested Jian in connection with the pair's alleged smuggling into the U.S. of a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon.

The fungus is known to cause head blight, a disease of wheat, barley, corn and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Fusarium graminearum's toxins cause vomiting, liver damage and reproductive defects in humans and livestock.

The complaint filed in federal court, however, does not allege the couple had plans to unleash the pathogen on U.S. farms.

According to the complaint, Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on the pathogen in China.

A single smuggling charge comes with up to 20 years in prison.

The complaint alleges that Jian's electronics contain information describing her membership in and "loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party."

It is further alleged that Jian's boyfriend, Liu, works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen and that he first lied, but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, so that he could conduct research on the pathogen at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked.

Jian was scheduled for her first appearance in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday. It wasn't the first time Jian allegedly smuggled into the U.S., according to the complaint, as it details another instance in August 2022.

On July 27, 2024, Liu arrived at the Detroit airport from Shanghai and was found to have Fusarium graminearum samples concealed in tissues in his backpack, according to the complaint.

Liu initially denied knowledge of the materials but later admitted to smuggling them to conduct research at the University of Michigan's Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction Laboratory where his girlfriend worked.

Jian is a postdoctoral researcher at the UM and denied knowledge of Liu's smuggling, according to the complaint.

"FBI agents obtained and executed a federal search warrant for the electronically stored information contained in LIU's electronic devices. FBI Agents found WeChat messages between LIU and JIAN in the months and days prior to LIU's smuggling of Fusarium graminearum on July 27, 2024," the complaint said.

Fusarium graminearum is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year, the complaint said. According to USDA's website, the agency requires a permit to import the pathogen.

"According to records maintained by the USDA, Yunqing JIAN and Zunyong LIU have never applied for, nor have they been issued, a permit to import Fusarium graminearum into the United States," the complaint said.

The complaint said WeChat messages between the couple indicate that Jian was aware of Liu's samples and her effort to mislead investigators about their presence in the UM laboratory.

U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. said the fungus the couple allegedly was working on posed a threat to U.S. agriculture.

"The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals -- including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party -- are of the gravest national security concerns," Gordon said in a statement.

"These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a 'potential agroterrorism weapon' into in the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme."

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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