Two Chinese scientists have been arrested by the FBI for smuggling a lethal 'pathogen' into the United States

On Wednesday, Kash Patel posted on his X account, "The FBI has arrested a Chinese citizen in America. The woman was purportedly smuggling a dangerous pathogen into the country." The arrested woman's name is Yunqing Jian. A deadly pathogen known as 'Fusarium graminearum' was isolated from Yunqing, a University of Michigan researcher, who was reportedly secretly importing it to the United States from China. According to Patel, "The impact of this disease has a disease called 'head blight' that has an immense effect on agriculture crops like wheat, barley, corn and rice, as well as on human and livestock health. This disease brings billions of dollars of economic loss annually around the globe." The FBI official has referred to this as 'agri-terrorism'.

Arrest of Yunqing and Junyong at Detroit Airport

Boyfriend of Yunqing, Junyong Liu, was also arrested, accused of the same. Junyong was studying the same pathogen at a Chinese university. The FBI says that even though they first denied it, both confirmed when questioned that they had secretly imported 'Fusarium graminearum' to the United States. The couple was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Yunqing, however, says that he had brought the pathogen along for study. The FBI also asserts that the investigation uncovered that Yunqing is a member of the Chinese Communist Party.

Broader Agroterrorism Concerns

He was also awarded scholarship funds from the Chinese government to research this pathogen. The FBI charged both of them with conspiracy, smuggling harmful materials, false statements and visa fraud. The FBI asserts that the Chinese Communist Party has been actively sending workers and researchers to destabilize American agriculture and economy for many years. Hazardous pathogens are being smuggled in to destroy huge amounts of agricultural products at one time. Such an event is referred to as 'agroterrorism'.