Two federal employees have been arrested by the FBI for allegedly conspiring to smuggle monkeypox into the United States.
Vincent Munster, 53, a citizen of the Netherlands and chief of the Virus Ecology Section in the Laboratory of Virology at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana, and Claude Kwe, 38, a citizen of Cameroon and a research fellow in Munster’s section, were charged in a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox into the United States. The two are also facing charges for making false statements to federal investigators.
Both individuals work in a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory focused on emerging viral pathogens and how they cross the species barrier, according to a Justice Department press release.
The charges stem from an incident on January 25, 2026, when the two researchers arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s McNamara Terminal on a flight originating from Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, via Paris. At the time, the Republic of the Congo was experiencing a monkeypox outbreak.
According to the criminal complaint, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers selected Kwe for secondary inspection after observing what was described as nervous behavior. Officers noted a large black plastic case, described as atypical for business travel.
When questioned, Munster and Kwe stated that the case contained diagnostics and testing equipment. Munster reportedly told officers, “Yes, yes, it’s all in my laptop, but you won’t need them. I do this all the time,” and initially denied that the case contained biological samples.
Inspection of the case revealed two Styrofoam coolers holding 113 microcentrifuge vials. The FBI tested 20 of the vials. Seventeen contained deactivated (inactivated) monkeypox virus, one contained chickenpox virus, and two contained only human DNA.
The complaint notes that the samples did not propagate and were assessed to be inactivated. No proper CDC or USDA permits, documentation, or approved packaging for the biological materials were presented, even though importation requirements for inactivated select agents are more permissive than for infectious ones.
The researchers also allegedly violated NIH regulations regarding the transport of noninfectious biological material on commercial aircraft.
“These NIH experts apparently broke our laws by smuggling viral pathogens on a packed commercial airplane from an outbreak in the Republic of Congo. Let that sink in,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr.
Munster and Kwe surrendered to authorities and were released on their own recognizance after pleading not guilty in an initial court appearance. Each faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.
An NIH spokesperson, via HHS, emphasized that “there was no risk at any time to the staff or public in or around” the Montana lab and affirmed commitment to biosafety standards.
