Chinese couple were part of years-long plot to smuggle biological pathogen into US – even once snuck dangerous material in shoe

A Chinese researcher accused of plotting with her boyfriend to smuggle a weapon of ‘agroterrorism’ into the United States may have successfully hidden pathogens in her shoe on a previous trip.

University of Michigan postdoctoral fellow Yunqing Jian, 33, has been charged alongside Zunyong Liu, 34, for the sinister plot allegedly tied to the Chinese Communist Party.

Liu arrived in the United States from China in July 2024 carrying four small baggies of Fusarium graminearum – a product responsible for causing billions of dollars worth of damage to livestock, wheat, barley, maize and rice globally each year.

University of Michigan postdoctoral fellow Yunqing Jian (pictured), 33, has been charged alongside Zunyong Liu, 34, for the sinister plot

The duo have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling, making false statements and visa fraud.

In a horrifying twist, the criminal complaint reveals that Jian may have been successful in smuggling pathogens into the United States years earlier.

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