A Chinese national was recently sentenced after smuggling “biological material related to round worms” from Wuhan to Michigan and lying to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

In a press release last Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced that Chengxuan Han, a Chinese national, was sentenced to three months of time served after pleading guilty to three charges of smuggling and to making false statements to Customs and Border Protection officials.

The press release explained that the Chinese national, who is a doctoral student at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, sent multiple packages that concealed biological material from China to the United States in 2024 and 2025. The packages were addressed to people associated with a laboratory at the University of Michigan.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan noted that Han made false statements about the packages and other biological materials she had previously sent to the U.S. during a Customs and Border Protection inspection at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on June 8, 2025. Officials also discovered that the content on Han’s electronic device had been deleted just three days before she came to the country on a J1 visa.

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While being interviewed by officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Han admitted that she sent the packages and that the packages “contained biological material related to round worms.” The Chinese national also admitted that she lied to Customs and Border Protection during the inspection.

Customs and Border Protection Director of Field Operations Marty Raybon confirmed that Han will be removed from the United States and prevented from reentry.

“This case serves as another example of the interagency effort put forth each day to protect our homeland from a growing number of threats from beyond our borders,” Raybon stated.

“It is a privilege to study at one of our elite institutions. Aliens should not be abusing our hospitality by smuggling unknown biomaterials into America and then lying about it, “U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said. “The folks who keep us safe must know what aliens like the defendant are bringing into our country. And these convictions are a small but important step in that direction.”