Two National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have been criminally charged with conspiracy to smuggle biological materials into the United States and making false statements to federal law enforcement.
A federal criminal complaint unsealed in Detroit reveals that Vincent Munster, the chief of the virus ecology section at NIH’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, and his colleague, Claude Kwe, were intercepted by authorities at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
The scientists were stopped by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers following a flight from Paris, which concluded a 9-day research trip to the Republic of Congo — a region heavily impacted by an mpox outbreak that has been linked to over 2,000 deaths.
Mpox, formerly “monkeypox,” is an infectious viral disease causing flu-like symptoms and a painful rash. It spreads primarily through close, direct contact with an infected person’s lesions, bodily fluids or contaminated items like bedding.
According to court filings submitted by the FBI, Munster adamantly denied carrying any biological materials or samples when questioned by airport investigators. However, a physical inspection of their luggage uncovered more than 100 vials stored inside Styrofoam coolers.
Subsequent laboratory testing on a portion of the seized materials also confirmed that at least 17 of the first 20 vials tested positive for deactivated mpox virus. When pressed about the required federal permits and documentation for importing such materials, Munster allegedly told customs officers that the paperwork was on his laptop, adding, “but you don’t need them. I do this all the time.”
Federal prosecutors assert that these statements were materially false and that the researchers lacked the mandatory authorization to bring the pathogens into the country.
Hellbound and Down 