A Chinese alien has been arrested and charged with smuggling biological materials into the U.S. and making false statements, according to the Eastern District of Michigan’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. made the announcement this week, detailing the arrest of Chengxuan Han, a citizen of China.
“According to the complaint, Han is a citizen of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from the College of Life Science and Technology in the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan, PRC,” the announcement details, noting that Han sent out four packages — addressed to people involved with the University of Michigan laboratory — to the U.S. in 2024 and 2025 “from the PRC containing concealed biological material.”
More via the announcement:
On June 8, 2025, Han arrived at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on a J1 visa. Customs and Border Protection officers conducted an inspection of Han, during which Han made false statements about the packages and the biological materials she had previously shipped to the United States. CBP officers also found that the content of Han’s electronic device had been deleted three days prior to her arrival in the United States. At the conclusion of the border inspection, Han was interviewed by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and ICE HSI. During this interview, Han admitted to sending the packages, admitted that the packages contained biological material related to round worms, and admitted to making false statements to the CBP officers during her inspection.
The attorney’s office noted that this charge does not equate to a guilty status and that the decision whether or not to seek a felony indictment will be made after the investigation — which involves the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) — is finished.
Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said in a statement that the FBI has “zero tolerance for those who violate federal law and remains unwavering in our mission to protect the American people,” noting that the alleged smuggling is a “direct threat to public safety and national security, and it severely compromises the integrity of our nation’s research institutions.”
U.S. Attorney Gorgon agreed that the alleged smuggling is “part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that this is yet another Chinese national arrested on charges of smuggling biological materials into the U.S. and “lying to federal agents.”
“Han is the third PRC connected individual charged on similar allegations in recent days,” Patel said, later adding, “This case is part of a broader effort from the FBI and our federal partners to heavily crack down on similar pathogen smuggling operations, as the CCP works relentlessly to undermine America’s research institutions.”
This reality coincides with concerns over the inflow of Chinese nationals to the United States via student visa programs, with roughly 500,000 Chinese students in the U.S. in any given year.
The Trump administration has begun to tackle this concern. For instance, last month, the federal government blocked Harvard University’s ability to welcome foreign students.
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
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