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Two National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers accused of transporting 113 biological samples, including mpox DNA, into the U.S. from the Republic of Congo have been indicted on federal charges, according to court records.
Vincent Munster, Ph.D., a Dutch citizen and chief of the Virus Ecology Section at NIH’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, and Claude Kwe Yinda, Ph.D., a Cameroonian research fellow, are charged with conspiracy to smuggle merchandise into the U.S. contrary to law.
They are also charged with making false statements to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, according to the Aug. 20 indictment.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the indictment states the researchers met on Dec. 17, 2025, and discussed retrieving “100 samples consisting of mpox (formerly monkeypox) DNA and were going [to] bring the samples back to [the] United States for DNA sequencing testing.”
They then traveled to Brazzaville in January to assist with the mpox outbreak before returning to the U.S. on Jan. 25, arriving at Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s McNamara Terminal. They were carrying a large plastic black case containing 113 microcentrifuge tubes with biological samples, including the DNA isolates of mpox, prosecutors allege.
When CBP officers asked about the case, Munster said it contained “test kits,” “assays” and “diagnostic reaction reagents,” according to the indictment. Kwe told officers it contained “diagnostics.”
Those statements were false, according to prosecutors. The indictment says the men knew the samples required specific approval and documentation to be transported on a commercial flight and had to be declared when they entered the U.S.
Munster also allegedly gave officers a written description of the contents that listed testing materials rather than identifying the biological samples. He told officers that numbers marked on the 113 tubes were for “inventory” purposes, according to the indictment.
The case began with a criminal complaint filed March 17. Several complaints and arrest warrants were filed under seal before the government moved to unseal the case in June.
Dishonesty ‘pervasive in virology’
Critics believe the case illuminates endemic fraud in the sciences.
Richard Ebright, Ph.D., a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, said the case illustrates a long-term pattern of deceit.
“Munster and Kwe exemplify the dishonesty, the disregard for biosafety, the disdain for law, and the contempt for the public interest that — after four decades of Anthony Fauci having treated virology as his personal fief and power base — have become pervasive in virology,” he said.
Other experts said the latest development shows forethought by the researchers instead of a random act.
“It’s hard to believe Munster behaved this way,” said journalist Paul D. Thacker of The Disinformation Chronicle. “We now know that this illegal smuggling of viruses was premeditated, not a last-minute bad decision.”
When contacted, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General pointed The Defender to a previous press release citing an ongoing investigation.
“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 that release. “Let that sink in.”
Munster has history of ties to Fauci, gain-of-function research
Munster has long been involved in gain-of-function research — including research that may have contributed to the laboratory creation of SARS-CoV-2.
In 2018, Munster was listed as a partner in a proposal for the DEFUSE Project. The proposal, submitted to the federal government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), proposed altering bat viruses by inserting a spike protein with a furin cleavage site — which would enable that virus to infect human lungs.
“DARPA denied funding for DEFUSE, but the following year, a novel bat virus with a furin cleavage site began infecting humans in Wuhan,” according to Thacker. “No other virus closely related to the COVID virus has this furin cleavage site.”
Ralph Baric, Ph.D., was the lead author on the DEFUSE proposal — and later played a “central role” with Fauci and other public health officials and researchers in promoting the “zoonotic” theory of COVID-19’s origins.
According to Justin Goodman, senior vice president of Advocacy & Public Policy at White Coat Waste, a watchdog group that investigated Munster, “Munster’s fingerprints are definitely on the infamous scheme with EcoHealth and the Wuhan animal lab to create a coronavirus like the one that caused COVID.”
Baric and Fauci also closely collaborated with Peter Daszak, Ph.D. — the former president of EcoHealth Alliance, who had financial ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and who also played a key role in promoting the zoonotic theory.
Munster has maintained ties with Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance over the years — including research they co-authored in 2022 on Nipah virus detection in bat roosts. Munster and EcoHealth scientists were both cited in a 2017 Science article about “hunting” for the Ebola virus among African bat colonies.
An investigation by White Coat Waste suggested Munster played a significant role in helping EcoHealth Alliance secure funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for the so-called “Wuhan West” bat laboratory at Colorado State University.
Munster co-authored the 2016 proposal for the “Wuhan West,” White Coat Waste revealed. In 2020, Munster requested NIAID funding for the project. Fauci led NIAID at the time.
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What’s next for Munster and Kwe?
Both men were released on $10,000 unsecured bonds.
Their preliminary examinations were scheduled for Aug. 26, but the grand jury returned an indictment Aug. 20.
Court records show Munster’s arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 2 before a magistrate judge. Lawyers for Munster did not respond to requests for comment.
Kwe is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 26.
“On behalf of Mr. Kwe, he is presumed innocent at this stage, and we will await future proceedings before commenting further,” his lawyer Benton Martin told The Defender.
The indictment also contains forfeiture allegations, meaning the government could seek property involved in the alleged offenses or proceeds derived from them if the defendants are convicted.
The NIH has not commented on the charges, but the agency said it would assist legal authorities in the case.
“This matter is currently under investigation, and NIH is cooperating fully with law enforcement and appropriate authorities,” the agency said in a statement.
If convicted, both researchers face up to five years in prison.
Related articles in The Defender
- ‘Let That Sink In’: Feds Charge Two NIH Researchers With Smuggling Mpox Into U.S.
- Virologist Linked to Fauci Under FBI Investigation for Smuggling Dangerous Pathogens Into U.S.
- Watch: ‘Master of the Universe’ Mindset Fueling High-Risk Virus Research
- CIA Whistleblower: Fauci Led Multi-Agency Cover-Up of COVID Lab Leak Evidence
- The COVID Lab Leak Hypothesis: Did the Media Fall Victim to a Misinformation Campaign?
