The Justice Department has arrested two Chinese nationals who were allegedly trying to smuggle a biological pathogen into the United States. This Fusarium plant material causes head blight in cereal crops, corn and rice. One of these individuals is a researcher at the University of Michigan. She is in jail, charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, smuggling and making false statements to authorities. Her boyfriend was not allowed into the country after the pathogen was found in his backpack.
