Two researchers face charges after allegedly trying to smuggle dangerous disease into the US

A pair of researchers who were attempting to enter the U.S. have been charged after it was alleged that they were trying to smuggle in vials containing the mpox virus into the country. The two researchers were stopped by Customs and Border Protection at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Both researchers are foreign nationals who flew into the U.S. back in January. Vincent Munster, 53, of the Netherlands, and Claude Kwe, 38, of Cameroon, were charged with conspiracy to smuggle vials of the mpox virus (also known as monkeypox) as well as giving false statements to federal law enforcement as per PEOPLE.

Munster and Kwe were employed at the National Institutes of Health located in the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana. Both worked with “emerging viral pathogens” with a particular focus on how they “cross the species barrier.” Both also worked in a laboratory with a biosafety level 4 which means they employ the “highest level of biosafety precautions for scientific research of known and potential human pathogens,” according to prosecutors.

Munster and Kwe allegedly concealed dangerous biological materials

CBP, which is dealing with the possibility of officers being pulled from airports in sanctuary cities, noticed the two researchers “traveling with a large black plastic case.” They were asked by officers what was in the case but the researchers allegedly told them that it was just diagnostics and testing equipment. Their property was inspected by FBI and CBP officers which led them to discover 113 vials, 17 of which contained deactivated mpox, one contained chickenpox, and two contained human DNA.

The pair had flown from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo where there is an active mpox outbreak. Special Agent Jennifer Runyan stated that the allegations against the two researchers was “serious.” She went on to say no researcher should “believe their positions, credentials, or professional status place them above the law.” Precautions around viruses are serious, earlier this year the world watched as a hantavirus outbreak saw people onboard a cruise ship put in quarantine for weeks.

Both Munster and Kwe could face up to five years in prison if convicted. It is unclear whether or not the pair have attorneys.