FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Friday that a post-doctoral researcher in the U.S. on a visa was charged with allegedly smuggling Escherichia coli (E. coli) into the country and making false statements about it.
Patel identified the post-doctoral researcher as Youhuang Xiang, but did not name the university involved in the case.
“This is yet another example of a researcher from China, given the privilege to work at a U.S. university, who then allegedly chose to take part in a scheme to circumvent U.S. laws and receive biological materials hidden in a package originating from China,” Patel wrote on X.
“If not properly controlled, E. coli and other biological materials could inflict devastating disease to U.S. crops and cause significant financial loss to the U.S. economy,” he added.
Patel applauded the FBI Indianapolis and Chicago field offices for their work on the case and thanked U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The FBI director also sent a warning to universities, urging them to be “vigilant of this trend.”
“Ensure your researchers know that there is a correct and legal way to obtain a license to import/export approved biological materials, and it must be followed without exception,” Patel said.
This is not the first time visa holders have been busted for allegedly smuggling materials for research since the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown in January 2025.
In November, the Justice Department announced that three Chinese national scholars had been charged with conspiring to smuggle biological materials into the U.S. while working at a university laboratory. They allegedly made false statements to CBP officers in order to import materials related to roundworms from China.
“Allegedly attempting to smuggle biological materials under the guise of ‘research’ is a serious crime that threatens America’s national and agricultural security,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
The agency identified the suspects as Xu Bai, 28, Fengfan Zhang, 27, and Zhiyong Zhang, 30, who, like Xiang, were participating in J-1 visa academic exchange programs.
The three scholars, who conducted research at the University of Michigan’s Shawn Xu Laboratory, allegedly received multiple shipments of concealed biological materials related to roundworms from a Chinese Ph.D. student in Wuhan, China, Chengxuan Han.
Han had previously worked at the university and was convicted of smuggling and making false statements before being removed from the U.S.
In February, Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born scientist and Harvard University cancer researcher, was detained at Boston Logan International airport for allegedly smuggling frog embryos.
Petrova’s attorney, Gregory Romanovsky, told Fox News that his client was bringing back the embryos at the request of a professor at a French lab that was collaborating with Harvard. He said the sample was picked up in Paris and was supposed to be brought to Harvard. Romanovsky added that Petrova did not know she needed to claim the embryos at customs.
“The individual was lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrote in a post on X about Petrova. “A subsequent K9 inspection uncovered undeclared petri dishes, containers of unknown substances, and loose vials of embryonic frog cells, all without proper permits.”
Petrova was released from federal custody in June.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
