Two award-winning researchers with the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency face criminal charges for allegedly trying to smuggle
brucella materials to China.
Dr. Klaus Nielsen was arrested at the Ottawa International
Airport where officers were accompanied by firefighters skilled in dealing with
hazardous materials.
Ms. Wei Ling Yu is believed to be in China.
The RCMP arrested Nielsen last October, but withheld that
information until this week. He was on his way to China.
Nielsen was one of six CFIA researchers who developed a
faster test for brucellosis and won a Technology Transfer Award in 2003.
Seventeen vials of pathogen — live brucella bacteria that
can infect livestock and humans — were found while searching Nielsen, RCMP
allege.
He was arrested for breach of trust by a public officer
and the unsafe transportation of a human pathogen.
He also faces several charges under the Export and Import
Permits Act, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and the Human Pathogens
and Toxins Act.
He is due for his second court appearance on April 17.
