3rd Chinese researcher arrested for smuggling biomaterials to University of Michigan lab

Chengxuan Han, a doctoral student from Wuhan’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology, was arrested June 8 at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and charged with smuggling biological materials into the U.S. and making false statements, federal prosecutors said. Han is the third Chinese national in two weeks accused of secretly sending research specimens to a University of Michigan laboratory.

Court filings say Han mailed four packages from China in 2024 and 2025 that were labeled as household goods but actually held live biological material tied to roundworm research. All were addressed to associates at a university lab in Ann Arbor.

Customs officers stopped Han after the flight from Shanghai and, during questioning, she initially denied shipping the items. Agents later found she had deleted phone data three days earlier. Han then admitted the shipments were hers, according to the criminal complaint.
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“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,” U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said.

Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the case “a direct threat to public safety and national security” that “severely compromises the integrity of our nation’s research institutions.”

Scientists often import foreign plants, animals or microbes to study traits such as pesticide resistance or genetic variation, but doing so legally requires advance federal permits. “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the U.S. for research purposes are stringent but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” said John Nowak, director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Officials have not explained why Han bypassed the permit process or whether the roundworm samples posed a safety risk.

Han’s arrest follows charges on June 3 against University of Michigan post-doctoral fellow Yunqing Jian and her partner Zunyong Liu, who allegedly tried to illegally bring the crop-blighting fungus Fusarium graminearum into the country. Federal investigators say they are examining whether the three cases are connected.

Han remains in federal custody ahead of a detention hearing set for June 11. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison on the smuggling count and five years for making false statements.