Arrests of Chinese Scientists Highlight Biowarfare Threat to US

Prosecutor says alleged smuggling of fungus has been described as ‘potential agroterrorism weapon’

Illustration by The Epoch Times, AP, Reuters, Department of Justice

After deboarding his international flight in Detroit in July 2024, a Chinese molecular biologist headed to the U.S. Customs area.

There, officers discovered something strange in Liu Zunyong’s bags—a wad of crumpled-up tissue in a small pocket of his backpack, according to a federal criminal complaint.