Russian-born Harvard researcher charged with smuggling in federal court

A -year-old Russian national was charged with smuggling biological material after TSA at Boston's Logan Airport allegedly discovered clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples in her luggage Kseniia Petrova a researcher at Harvard Healthcare School was charged in a criminal complaint with one count of smuggling goods into the U S according to the U S Attorney s Office for the District of Massachusetts Petrova was originally detained on Feb after a law enforcement canine alerted its handler to her luggage The U S Attorney s Office noted on Wednesday that Petrova allegedly denied having the biological material at first but later admitted to carrying it Prosecutors also claim that Petrova s text messages show that she was aware that she needed a permit to bring in the clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples that were allegedly unveiled in her luggage In one text message exchange cited by the office Petrova was requested whether she had a plan to get the biological material into the U S and she allegedly responded by saying No plan yet I won t be able to swallow them RUSSIAN HARVARD SCIENTIST KSENIIA PETROVA 'KNOWINGLY' SMUGGLED ILLICIT ITEMS TO US FEDSHowever Gregory Romanovsky the attorney representing Petrova mentioned on Thursday that customs experts certified that his client did not need a permit to bring her non-living scientific samples that are not considered biological material under U S Customs law The preceding day s hearing in federal district court in Vermont endorsed that Customs and Margin Patrol agents had no legal basis for canceling Kseniia s visa and detaining her on Feb Less than two hours after the Vermont judge set a hearing on Kseniia s release she was suddenly transferred from ICE to criminal custody This is not a coincidence Romanovsky commented It is an attempt by the cabinet to justify its outrageous and legally indefensible position that this scientist working for the U S on cures for cancer and aging research has somehow become a danger to the society The administration certified in court on the previous day its intent to deport Kseniia to Russia where it knows she will face grave danger for opposing the Putin regime Petrova explained in a newest New York Times op-ed that she was returning to the U S after vacationing in Paris when she was detained by ICE in February She also expressed her fear of being arrested in Russia if deported as she has been a critic of the war in Ukraine RUSSIAN SCIENTIST AT HARVARD THERAPEUTIC SCHOOL DETAINED BY ICE AT BOSTON AIRPORTWhile she admitted in the op-ed to not filling out a customs form regarding the frog embryos in her luggage she held it would impact in a fine or warning not an arrest At Logan International Airport I did not complete a customs declaration for frog embryos for use in our lab s research in my luggage I m notified this would normally effect in a warning or a fine Instead my visa was revoked and I was sent to a detention center in Louisiana Petrova wrote In her op-ed Petrova claimed that colleagues reported the lab home to the world s only NoRI short for Normalized Raman Imaging microscope ground to a halt after her detention Without me there to help the lab has been unable to analyze the image facts that the microscope generates Petrova wrote She also claimed that several of her colleagues are afraid of having their visa status revoked and being detained as a great number of are foreign scientists On Wednesday a federal judge grilled establishment attorneys on their grounds for canceling Petrova s visa and detaining her the Times announced The judge reportedly set a bail hearing for Petrova later this month Romanovsky described the NYT that he believes the authorities filed the criminal charge against his client to make Kseniia look like a criminal to justify their efforts to deport her He also disclosed that he and his client were blindsided by the unsealing of a meritless criminal complaint which came after the bail hearing was set