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Inside Story of the Chinese Scholar Arrested for Smuggling Crop-Killing Fungus in the US
Description
On June 3, federal agents arrested a Chinese researcher who was working at the University of Michigan.
The reason for the arrest was that this scholar was allegedly part of a scheme to smuggle a biological pathogen into the United States.
Specifically, she and her boyfriend were trying to smuggle in a type of fungus that can be used to target food crops here in America (things like wheat, barley, and rice). This particular fungus would have the effect of absolutely decimating these crops. In fact, the feds characterized this plot as being a form of “agroterrorism,” or agricultural terrorism.
Furthermore, after looking into it, it turns out that this latest incident wasn’t this couple’s first time—as they’ve actually smuggled in viral pathogens on several other occasions as well.
Now that the FBI’s indictment has been unsealed in federal court, let’s go through the details of it all together—because the details are wild.