A University of Florida research employee and students have been implicated in an illegal, multi-million dollar scheme that saw samples of dangerous drugs and toxins illicitly shipped to China over a period of seven years.
The scheme, investigated by the Justice Department, saw thousands of biochemical samples bought illegally which were then delivered to a campus laboratory before being shipped overseas, according to federal court records.
Among the students tied to the scheme was the president of UF’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association, Nongnong ‘Leticia’ Zheng.
The materials smuggled to China included what the government described as purified, non-contagious proteins of the cholera toxin and pertussis toxin, which causes whooping cough.
Other materials smuggled to China in the scheme included small amounts of highly purified drugs – known as analytical samples — of fentanyl, morphine, MDMA, cocaine, ketamine, codeine, methamphetamine, amphetamine, acetylmorphine and methadone, court records showed.
Such small samples would generally be used for calibrating scientific or medical devices.
American Buddhist Net 