Wednesday, June 03, 2026

It's the National Institutes of Health, Not the National Institutes of Hijinks

Hijinks, in this case, of a very serious pathogenic nature.

The Detroit News: Feds: 2 researchers brought vials of monkeypox to DTW

The Detroit Free Press: Feds: 2 researchers smuggled monkeypox through Detroit airport 

Two researchers with the National Institutes of Health have been charged with smuggling monkeypox into the United States and lying about it — an alleged crime that was detected at Detroit Metro Airport.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday, June 2 in U.S. District Court, one of the defendants is from the Netherlands, the other from Cameroon. Both are virus experts who work for the NIH at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana, in a lab that, according to the government, has the highest level of biosafety precautions for scientific research of known and potential human pathogens. 

The "highest level of biosafety precautions".

Well, according to federal prosecutors, they allegedly bypassed proper procedures for transporting and importing dangerous pathogens, instead bringing the materials into the country in luggage and then lying about it.

Given their scientific expertise and workplace responsibilities, the allegations are especially striking.

This is the latest in a series of biological-material smuggling incidents uncovered at the Detroit Airport.

Midwesterner: UM faces federal investigation after students from China repeatedly busted for crimes in Michigan

 USDOJ: Three Chinese National Scholars from University of Michigan Laboratory Charged for Conspiring to Smuggle Biological Materials into the U.S. 

NIH Scientists acting like Mad Scientists is just not a good look. 

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