Federal agents arrested a Wuhan-based researcher on charges of smuggling biological materials from China to the U.S., then lying to Customs and Border Protection about those efforts.

The arrest of Chanxuan Han, which the department announced Monday, follows the arrests of two Chinese nationals last week on allegations that they smuggled a crop-killing fungus that is a “potential agroterrorism weapon” for unauthorized research at a University of Michigan lab.

Han, who was interviewed by federal agents upon landing in Detroit on June 8, is facing smuggling charges related to biological materials related to round worms, a parasitic organism. There’s no indication that Han’s case is linked to the initial two arrests.

The Justice Department alleges that she sent several packages containing the materials to a lab at the University of Michigan throughout 2024 and 2025.

Han is currently a PhD student at the College of Life Science and Technology at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan.

In a statement on Monday, the Justice Department announced that it had arrested Han, after she allegedly lied to CBP agents at the airport.

During a subsequent interview with agents from FBI and ICE, she admitted that she had sent the round worm-related materials and lied to the CBP officers, according to the DOJ statement.

The Trump administration and Congress are heightening their scrutiny of the higher education industry’s ties to China and potential security lapses. One of the officials involved in Han’s arrest addressed the need to shore up research security vulnerabilities.

“The alleged smuggling of biological materials by this alien from a science and technology university in Wuhan, China—to be used at a University of Michigan laboratory—is part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security,” said Jerome Gorgon, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, in a statement about Han’s arrest.

“The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions.”

In January, the University of Michigan announced that it will end its longstanding partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party had urged Michigan to terminate the agreement, through which the schools operated a joint engineering institute for their respective students. University of Michigan president Santa Ono said in a statement on January 10 that while international partnerships have enriched the school’s academic offerings, “we must also prioritize our commitment to national security.”