3 Chinese Researchers Charged With Conspiracy to Smuggle Biological Materials Into US
Three Chinese researchers were charged on Nov. 5 with conspiracy to smuggle biological materials into the U.S. and for making false statements to CBP officers, DOJ announced. The individuals, Xu Bai, Fengfan Zhang and Zhiyong Zhang, were all research scholars with J-1 visas conducting research at the University of Michigan laboratory of researcher Xianzhong Xu, DOJ said.
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In 2024 and 2025, Bai and F. Zhang received various shipments of biological materials related to round worms which had been sent from China by Chengxuan Han, a Chinese citizen, DOJ said. Han was pursuing a Ph.D. at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and, in June 2025, allegedly traveled to the U.S. to work in Xu's laboratory in Michigan.
Han recently pleaded no contest to three smuggling counts and was sentenced and removed from the U.S. Following Han's removal, the University of Michigan opened an internal investigation of Xu's laboratory. After the three defendants refused to participate in the investigation, they were terminated by the university, DOJ said. This termination made them eligible for removal from the U.S., DOJ said.
The three defendants were stopped attempting to fly to China in New York, and, during an inspection by CBP, Z. Zhang allegedly made false statements about Han. Bai and F. Zhang told CBP officers they had received packages from Han, including after her arrest, DOJ said.