The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced today that federal charges have been filed against Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, a Chinese couple accused of smuggling a fungus identified as a “dangerous biological pathogen” into the United States.

Mr. Liu faces charges of conspiracy, smuggling goods, making false statements, and visa fraud after allegedly bringing the fungus Fusarium graminearum through Detroit Metropolitan Airport so that he and his partner, Ms. Jian, could study it further at a University of Michigan laboratory.

Fusarium graminearum, described in scientific literature as a “potential agroterrorism weapon,” causes disease in crops such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice, leading to potential crop devastation and health risks like vomiting and liver damage if ingested. It is blamed for “billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year.”

The complaint also alleges that both Liu and Jian received funding from the Chinese government for their research on the fungus while in China, with Ms. Jian reportedly being a committed member of the Chinese Communist Party.