Monkeypox Virus Smuggling Case Involves NIH Researchers In Montana

Two researchers who worked at a high-security federal laboratory in Montana have been charged with conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox virus into the United States and making false statements to federal authorities, officials said.

Vincent Munster, 53, a Netherlands citizen and chief of the Virus Ecology Section at the National Institutes of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, and Claude Kwe, 38, a research fellow from Cameroon, were charged in a criminal complaint, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. announced.

According to the complaint, the two men arrived Jan. 25, 2026, at Detroit Metropolitan Airport from the Republic of Congo, where a monkeypox outbreak was underway. Authorities allege they falsely told U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers that a black case they were carrying contained diagnostic equipment.

Investigators later determined the case held 113 vials in Styrofoam containers. Testing found 17 vials contained deactivated monkeypox virus, one contained chickenpox virus and two contained human DNA.

Prosecutors allege the researchers, whose work focused on emerging viral pathogens and cross-species transmission, knowingly transported the materials without proper authorization.

“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,” Gorgon said.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan said the case involves “the dangerous and unlawful smuggling of deactivated Mpox virus into the United States” and alleged attempts to mislead investigators.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the case underscores the seriousness of safeguarding biological materials and border security.