Chinese "Researcher" snuck E. coli Plasmids into US as "Women's Underwear"

A Chinese researcher named Youhuang Xiang at Indiana University was arrested for smuggling plasmid DNA derived from E. coli bacteria from China. He concealed the biological material by labeling the shipment as “women’s underwear” on the manifest, admitted during questioning that he did it to evade customs detection, and had previously lied about his Chinese Communist Party membership and government lab affiliations. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to just 4 months in prison, a $500 fine, supervised release, and immediate deportation.