Agro-terrorism a growing threat after 2 Chinese nationals charged

(NBC CHICAGO) - Weaponizing farm fields from Illinois and across the U.S. tonight is "a growing threat" demanding law enforcement attention, according to terrorism experts.

This week, rare charges have been filed against two Chinese nationals, accused of smuggling fungus into the Midwest with the aim of infecting farmland.

Farm fields were to become the new battlefields targeted by the suspects in the case, according to federal law enforcement officials who say the couple smuggled a noxious fungus into the U.S. intending to use it as a "potential agroterrorism weapon."

Thirty-three-year old University of Michigan employee Yunqing Jian is in custody in Detroit, being held without bond while her 34-year-old boyfriend Dr. Zunyong Liu is a fugitive in China where he works at a Chinese unive