2 NIH researchers charged with allegedly smuggling monkeypox

DETROIT – Two National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint for allegedly smuggling monkeypox into the United States and lying to border officials about it, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Vincent Munster, 53, a citizen of the Netherlands and Chief of the Virus Ecology Section at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana, and Claude Kwe, 38, a research fellow from Cameroon, face charges of conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox and making false statements to federal law enforcement.

Both men work at a Biosafety Level 4 facility, focusing on how emerging viral pathogens cross the species barrier, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

What we know:

According to the complaint, the two men arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on January 25, on a flight originating from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, where a monkeypox outbreak was actively occurring.

When questioned by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers about a large black plastic case they were traveling with, Munster and Kwe reportedly claimed it contained diagnostics and testing equipment.

However, a subsequent investigation by CBP and FBI agents revealed the case actually held 113 vials packed in Styrofoam coolers. Testing conducted by the FBI on 20 of those vials revealed that 17 contained deactivated monkeypox virus, one contained chickenpox and two contained only human DNA.

“These NIH experts apparently broke our laws by smuggling viral pathogens on a packed commercial airplane from an outbreak in the Republic of Congo,” U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr said in a statement. “Let that sink in.”

Federal officials emphasized that professional credentials do not place anyone above the law in a statement, noting that smuggling biological materials without authorization breaches public trust and bypasses critical safety protocols.

What we don’t know:

The case is being investigated by the FBI Detroit Field Office, CBP Detroit and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

What’s next:

Munster and Kwe face a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.