US charges Chinese visa-holder post-doctoral researcher with smuggling E. coli

WASHINGTON — A post-doctoral researcher on a U.S. visa has been charged with smuggling Escherichia coli into the United States and making false statements to federal authorities, the FBI announced Friday. The defendant, Youhuang Xiang, was identified by FBI Director Kash Patel, but the university involved in the case was not named in the public filing. The indictment alleges Xiang sought to obtain biological materials from China by concealing shipments and bringing them into the country in a manner that violated federal import rules.

Patel described the case as part of a broader pattern in which researchers from China working at U.S. universities allegedly sought to bypass import controls to obtain biological materials through hidden shipments. He warned that if such materials are not properly controlled, E. coli and other biological materials could pose threats to crops and the U.S. economy. The FBI credited agents in the Indianapolis and Chicago field offices and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for their work, and he urged universities to ensure researchers obtain licenses to import or export approved materials and to follow those procedures without exception.

This is not the first time visa holders have faced charges tied to efforts to smuggle research materials since the immigration crackdown began in January 2025. In November, the Justice Department announced charges against three Chinese national scholars accused of conspiring to smuggle biological materials into the United States while working at a university laboratory. The suspects — Xu Bai, 28; Fengfan Zhang, 27; and Zhiyong Zhang, 30 — allegedly received multiple shipments of concealed materials related to roundworms from Chengxuan Han, a Chinese Ph.D. student in Wuhan who had previously worked at the University of Michigan and was convicted of smuggling and making false statements before being removed from the United States.

Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born scientist and Harvard University cancer researcher, was detained at Boston’s Logan International Airport in February for allegedly smuggling frog embryos. Petrova’s attorney said the embryos were requested by a professor at a French lab collaborating with Harvard, and that Petrova did not know she needed to declare them at customs. DHS said Petrova was detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country; Petrova was released from federal custody in June.

Earlier, a Chinese student in the United States faced charges after investigators said a friend shipped Fusarium graminearum to her in a textbook, highlighting how materials can be routed through unfamiliar channels and not properly declared.

The cases illustrate ongoing national security and agricultural concerns surrounding the international flow of biological materials and emphasize the need for strict licensing and compliance in import and export activities. Authorities say the investigations remain active, and additional charges could follow as more information becomes available.