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UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO/LES/USPER PY Report TITLE University of Minnesota Professor and Virologist Fang Li and Associates Date AnD TIME OF INFORMATION 11/28/2018 00:00 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On November 28, 2018, vials containing suspected coronavirus where intercepted on an inbound passenger at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The vials, carried by a third party individual from a researcher in China, were for recipient Fang LI, a professor and virology researcher at the University of Minnesota. LI's research is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. Some of LI's research fellows and collaborators have connections to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China and the Thousand Talents Program and have been identified for future targeting purposes. Foreign nationals with links to suspicious Chinese entities are of special interest and may pose a risk to the national security of the United States. NARRATIVE On November 28, 2018 (Courier 1] arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) and was referred to agriculture secondary due to primary questioning by an US Customs and Border Protection Officer identified himself as a biologist at th: i Minnesota, . Biological materials were not declared during primary inspection. In agriculture secondary, amended his declaration to a Supervisory US Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Specialist SCBPAS) to include "antibodies." Physical inspection of a's carry-on baggage led to the discovery of three (3) vials obscured with a combination of paper towel and wax film. stated he was given the vials by "Yusen ZHOW," aka Yusen ZHOU, for intended recipient "Fan Li" aka Fang LI. System checks in ePermits, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) permit viewing and application system, revealed LI was previously issued an USDA Veterinary Services Permit i for bat coronavirus DNA. The permit was valid from 01/13/2014 to 01/13/2015 and did not authorize foreign importation or possession of Select Agent material. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed did not have a valid CDC penmit nor a security risk assessment at the University of Minnesota. Inspection of the vials revealed markings M and N. Open source research of LI's publication history revealed collaborations with Yusen ZHOU on highly pathogenic coronaviruses (SARS, MERS) that used notations of M and N; M for Membrane and N for Nucleocapsid M@, Due to the nature of LI's research and lack of documentation accompanying the vials, local Homeland Security of Investigations (HSI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate (WMDD) took possession of the vials for testing. Testing of the vials at the joint DHS/FBI Laboratory, National Bioforensic Analysis Center (NBFAC), revealed the contents of the vials to be "A partial immunoglobulin heavy chain precursor mRNA and a partial porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) spike UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO/LES/USPER