Chinese nationals charged in smuggling cases, Illinois researcher weighs in on agroterrorism fears

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Multiple Chinese nationals have now been charged by federal authorities with smuggling a potential agroterrorism weapon into the country. Those charges center on a fungus that can blight crops, according to the Department of Justice, and can cripple food security and the economy.

In two separate cases, three Chinese biological researchers are accused by the FBI of taking part in the smuggling operation to sneak unlawful material into the United States, the ABC7 I-Team has learned.

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.

In court documents, the FBI claims the fungus is classified as a potential agroterrorism weapon that could be used for targeting food crops that can cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in 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.