Dutch, Cameroonian charged with smuggling monkeypox into U.S.
Vincent Munster and Claude Kwe, both researchers with the National Institutes of Health at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory, has been charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox into the United States and giving false statements to federal law enforcement.
According to the criminal complaint, Mr Munster, a 53-year-old citizen of the Netherlands, is the chief of the Virus Ecology Section at the Laboratory of Virology at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana.
Mr Kwe, a 38-year-old citizen of Cameroon, is a research fellow in Mr Munster’s section. The work of both men focuses on “emerging viral pathogens” and how they “cross the species barrier”.
They work at a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory, which employs the highest biosafety precautions for scientific research on known and potential human pathogens.
On January 25, 2026, Messrs Munster and Kwe arrived at the McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, having travelled from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, where a monkeypox outbreak was occurring.
Monkeypox is an infectious virus that can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes, fevers, and other symptoms.
Customs and Border Protection officials inspected and interviewed Messrs Munster and Kwe upon their arrival. CBP officers observed Messrs Kwe and Munster travelling with a large black plastic case.
Messrs Munster and Kwe falsely told CBP officers that the black case contained diagnostics and testing equipment. Subsequent investigation by CBP and FBI agents revealed that the case actually contained 113 vials in Styrofoam coolers.
As of the date of the complaint, the FBI has tested 20 of the 113 vials. Seventeen of these vials contained deactivated monkeypox virus, one contained the chickenpox virus, and two contained only human DNA.
Messrs Munster and Kwe face a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.
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