Chinese Nationals Caught Smuggling “Agroterrorism” Fungus Into America’s Breadbasket

In a plot that reads like a Tom Clancy novel crossed with a dystopian agribusiness nightmare, two Chinese nationals, Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, have been slapped with federal charges for allegedly smuggling a biological ticking time bomb into the U.S. 

The weapon? Fusarium graminearum, a fungus dubbed a “potential agroterrorism weapon” by scientific literature, capable of wreaking havoc on America’s wheat, barley, maize, and rice crops while poisoning humans and livestock with its toxic byproducts. 

The stage? Detroit Metropolitan Airport, where Liu’s clumsy attempt to sneak the pathogen past Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers unraveled faster than a cheap yuan store sweater.

The Department of Justice dropped the hammer on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, charging Jian and Liu with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud.

New… I can confirm that the FBI arrested a Chinese national within the United States who allegedly smuggled a dangerous biological pathogen into the country.

The individual, Yunqing Jian, is alleged to have smuggled a dangerous fungus called “Fusarium graminearum,” which is an…

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) June 3, 2025

Jian, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan’s Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction Laboratory, and her boyfriend Liu, a researcher at Zhejiang University in China, allegedly conspired to bring this crop-killing fungus to a U.S. lab for “research.” 

But let’s cut through the academic veneer: Fusarium graminearum isn’t your garden-variety mold. It causes “head blight,” a disease that can devastate staple crops, costing global agriculture billions annually. 

Worse, its toxins induce vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive issues in humans and animals. In the wrong hands, it’s a bioweapon straight out of a Pentagon threat assessment.

The story begins in July 2024, when Liu landed in Detroit on a tourist visa, claiming he was visiting his girlfriend. CBP officers, not buying the innocent tourist act, searched his luggage and found four plastic baggies stuffed with reddish plant material, later confirmed to be laced with Fusarium graminearum. Liu initially played dumb, insisting someone must have planted the stuff in his bag—a story that collapsed faster than China’s commercial real estate bubble. 

After squirming under questioning, he admitted to hiding the samples in a wad of tissues to dodge CBP scrutiny, intending to deliver them to Jian’s lab at the University of Michigan for “research.”

But the plot thickens. Electronic communications between Jian and Liu, uncovered by the FBI, suggest this wasn’t a one-off. Messages from 2022 show Jian discussing how to smuggle biological materials past CBP, even boasting about hiding samples in her shoes during a previous trip. In early 2024, she reportedly arranged for an associate in China to mail a book with a plastic bag of material hidden inside. And then there’s the kicker: Jian’s phone contained a signed pledge of loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), alongside evidence of funding from a Chinese government-backed foundation for her research on—surprise, surprise—Fusarium graminearum. Liu’s phone wasn’t clean either, harboring an article titled “2018 Plant-Pathogen Warfare Under Changing Climate Conditions,” which explicitly flags the fungus as a crop-destroying threat.

The FBI’s counterintelligence division, not known for chasing shadows, labeled this a “grave national security concern.” U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon didn’t mince words, calling the smuggling attempt a deliberate move to introduce a pathogen that could paralyze America’s agricultural crop belts. 

Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, echoed the sentiment, framing the charges as a “crucial advancement” in safeguarding national security. Even CBP’s Marty Raybon chimed in, emphasizing the agency’s role in stopping biological threats that could “devastate our agricultural economy.“

Jian, now in custody and deemed a flight risk, appeared in a Detroit federal court on Tuesday, where a judge ordered her held without bond pending a hearing. Liu, meanwhile, was sent back to China after his airport interception; his current whereabouts are unknown. Both have a history with the fungus, having co-authored multiple papers on Fusarium graminearum since 2014, which raises questions about how long this scheme was in development. Denials of involvement appear to have crumbled under the weight of text messages suggesting Jian was already cultivating the pathogen in the Michigan lab before Liu’s arrival.

Now, let’s connect the dots the mainstream won’t touch. The CCP’s fingerprints are all over this. Jian’s funding ties to a Chinese government-backed foundation and her pledged allegiance to the Party aren’t exactly subtle. Liu’s role at Zhejiang University, a known hub for CCP-aligned research, only adds fuel to the fire. 

Posts on X are buzzing, with users like @TrashDiscourse connecting the dots on potentially broader PLA strategies.

Two Chinese Nationals arrested for attempting to smuggle in a deadly fungus. Linked to Agroterrorism. pic.twitter.com/MO0AZq3MzS

— TrashDiscourse (@TrashDiscourse) June 3, 2025

The most detail on Fusarium graminearum, which was smuggled into the US by the Chinese for agro-terrorism.

Below is a map of all the Chinese owned farmland in the US. Pay close attention to lands owned in “bread-basket” areas and the impact this could have. https://t.co/ahMmfbYnJH pic.twitter.com/Yv2fjSr3Xs

— ð—–ð—¢ð— ð— ð—”ð—¡ð——ð—˜ð—Ÿð—˜ð—©ð—˜ð—¡® (@commandeleven) June 3, 2025

Skeptics might argue that this is just a case of overzealous researchers cutting corners for the sake of science. However, when factoring in the CCP connections and the pathogen’s classification as a potential bioweapon, the “innocent scientist” narrative starts to look like a fairy tale for gullible NPR listeners.

The bigger picture is grim. America’s food supply is a soft target, and a well-placed pathogen could collapse the Midwest’s grain belt, spike food prices, and sow chaos in an already fragile economy. 

With global tensions simmering and China flexing its biotech muscle, this incident raises red flags about what else might be slipping through the cracks. The University of Michigan, caught flat-footed, now faces scrutiny over its lax oversight of foreign researchers. And while Jian sits in a Detroit cell, the question lingers: how many other “researchers” are out there, quietly probing America’s vulnerabilities?

This isn’t just a smuggling bust—it’s a wake-up call. America’s already fragile food supply chain may be the next target in a broader campaign of irregular warfare by a foreign adversary.

From exporting fentanyl precursor chemicals to Mexican cartels—subsidized by Beijing and now causing over 100,000 U.S. deaths annually among working-age adults—to undermining national readiness by taking out military-aged men and women, China appears to be playing the long game: destabilizing America from within.

This is yet another reminder of why Americans must secure local food supply chains—whether that means strengthening ties with nearby farmers and ranchers or simply starting a backyard garden or chicken coop.