Federal charges filed in alleged smuggling of plant pathogen

On June 3, United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., announced that Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, both citizens of the People’s Republic of China, have been charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, making false statements, and visa fraud. The announcement was made in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

According to the complaint, Jian and Liu are allegedly connected to the unauthorized transport of Fusarium graminearum, a fungus that causes Fusarium head blight, a significant disease affecting wheat, barley, maize, and rice. The fungus is considered a serious concern in global agricultural biosecurity due to the economic losses it causes and the potential toxicity it poses to humans and livestock.

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.… Continue reading