Two Chinese nationals have been charged with smuggling a potentially dangerous pathogen into the U.S.
The Justice Department announced that 33-year-old Yunqing Jian and 34-year-old Zunyong Liu were charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud. Jian is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan.
According to the release, the couple smuggled Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. The fungus, the Justice Department added, is classified as a “potential agroterrorism weapon.”
The release continues:
This noxious fungus causes “head blight,” a disease of wheat, barley, maize, 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.
According to the complaint, Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on this pathogen in China. The complaint also 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 America—through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport—so that he could conduct research on it at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked.
The fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a “potential agroterrorism weapon,” according to the Justice Department. Federal prosecutors note the noxious fungus causes “head blight,” a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and “is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year.”
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
In a statement sent to Fox News, FBI Director Kash Patel said the case was a “sobering reminder that the Chinese Communist Party continues to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate our institutions and target our food supply.”
“This case is a sobering reminder that the Chinese Communist Party continues to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate our institutions and target our food supply, an act that could cripple our economy and endanger American lives,” Patel told Fox in a statement. “Smuggling a known agroterrorism agent into the U.S. is not just a violation of law, it’s a direct threat to national security. I commend the FBI Detroit Division and our partners at CBP for stopping this biological threat before it could do real damage.”
“The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals – including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party – are of the gravest national security concerns,” U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon 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.”
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also announced he would be “aggressively” revoking the student visas for Chinese nationals, “including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”
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