Federal authorities make third arrest over smuggled biological materials to University of Michigan lab

ANNARBOR,Mich.–FederalauthoritiesarrestedaChineseresearcherconnectedtotheUniversityofMichigan,markingthethirdsuchcaseintwoweeksinvolvingtheallegedsmugglingofbiologicalmaterialsfromChina. ChengxuanHanfacesfederalchargesofsmugglinggoodsintotheUnitedStatesandmakingfalsestatements,U.S.AttorneyJeromeF.Gorgon,Jr.announcedMonday(June9). Accordingtocourtdocuments,Han,aPh.D.candidatefromHuazhongUniversityofScienceandTechnologyinWuhan,China,allegedlyshippedfourpackagescontainingconcealedbiologicalmaterialtostaffmembersataUniversityofMichiganlaboratoryduring2024and2025. FederalinvestigatorssaidHanadmittedtosendingpackagescontainingbiologicalmaterialrelatedtoroundwormsafterquestioningatDetroitMetropolitanAirportonJune8. CustomsandBorderProtectionofficersalsodiscoveredHanhaddeletedcontentfromherphonethreedaysbeforearrivingintheUnitedStates,accordingtothecriminalcomplaint. “Theallegedsmugglingofbiolog