Two researchers have been apprehended and accused of plotting to smuggle after being intercepted at a major airport with vials containing the mpox virus and human DNA. Vincent Munster, aged 53, and Claude Kwe, aged 38, were taken into custody at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Michigan, USA, earlier this year following an alleged smuggling attempt. US authorities reported that the duo, hailing from the Netherlands and Cameroon, were halted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as they were seen transporting a large black plastic case.
Upon questioning, the researchers claimed they were carrying diagnostic and testing equipment; however, they are now facing charges of smuggling viral pathogens on a commercial flight from an outbreak zone in the Republic of Congo. The US Attorney’s Office in Michigan stated that Munster and Kwe, affiliated with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana, had arrived in Detroit from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
The researchers returned from a city experiencing an Mpox outbreak, a virus causing rash and flu-like symptoms, with hundreds of global fatalities in 2025. Munster, the former virus ecology section chief, and Kwe, a research fellow, were studying emerging viral pathogens at a biosafety level laboratory.
CBP officials, in collaboration with the FBI, inspected the researchers’ case and discovered 113 vials in Styrofoam coolers. Subsequent testing revealed 17 vials containing deactivated mpox virus, one with chickenpox virus, and two with human DNA. Detroit attorney general Jerome Gorgon Jr accused the experts of smuggling the pathogens on a commercial plane from the Congo.
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, Jennifer Runyan, characterized the allegations as “dangerous and unlawful smuggling,” emphasizing that no researcher is above the law. The seriousness of the charges involves the smuggling of deactivated mpox virus into the US and attempts to deceive federal authorities.
The National Institutes of Health has been contacted for comment by the Daily Mirror.
