Chinese scientists accused of smuggling possible agricultural terrorism tool to the United States, expert from Illinois shares thoughts

CHICAGO (WLS) — Federal authorities have filed charges against multiple Chinese nationals for smuggling a potential agroterrorism weapon into the country. The Department of Justice reports that the charges revolve around a fungus capable of blighting crops, posing a threat to food security and the economy.

According to the ABC7 I-Team, three Chinese biological researchers are facing accusations from the FBI in two separate cases related to their involvement in a smuggling operation to illicitly transport material into the United States.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

In the first case, a man and woman are accused of surreptitiously bringing in a crop fungus called fusarium graminearum.

Court documents reveal that the FBI asserts the fungus in question is categorized as a potential agroterrorism weapon with the ability to target food crops and induce symptoms such as vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive abnormalities in both livestock and humans.

Gil Soffer, Chief Legal Analyst at ABC7, said authorities appear to be serous about the charges.

“It does appear from these papers, the government views this as a dangerous pathogen, as something more than simply dangerous, frankly, is something that has the potential to cause wide scale damage to the economy and to our agricultural system,” Soffer said.

A third bioresearcher charged this week is accused of smuggling plasmids across the border that were hidden inside of a book she mailed.

According to authorities, plasmids can be used to modify other genetic organisms. All three accused of attempting to bring the materials to labs at the University of Michigan.

“There’s certainly a suggestion, or more than a suggestion, that there was a conspiracy at work here. But how far it goes, how high it runs, how deep it is, we don’t know,” Soffer said.

Santiago Mideros, a crop researcher at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, specializes in plant pathology. He takes samples of naturally occurring fusarium graminearum from area farms in downstate Illinois.

He told the I-Team the mold can cause serious damage and is one of the most closely monitored plant pathogens in the country.

“It affects many grain crops including corn wheat barley and there’s many others,” explained Mideros, adding that beyond the toxins it can produce, the main concern is devastating crop loss. “The grain could be rejected altogether, and they won’t be able to sell it to anybody, because it has the toxin contamination, and there will be a huge loss for them.”

And if the pathogen is modified to be more infectious, it could cause a huge threat to the economy and food security in the United States.

However, Mideros wonders if the concern is overblown.

“A great part of the reason why I’m less concerned about it is because there is so much research being done on it ,” he said.

However that ongoing research in Illinois could be in jeopardy. The USDA confirmed to the I-Team Wednesday its office in Urbana, Illinois is targeted for closure in President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget.

Mideros said some of his research funding has been frozen for the last few months and going forward he is concerned about future efforts to protect crops in the states.

The University of Michigan released a statement, saying in part they strongly condemn any actions that seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission.