A federal court in Boston approved the bail of Kseniia Petrova, a Russian national, on Thursday. She was arrested on 16 February after customs officials discovered undeclared frog embryos and embryonic samples in her possession.
Customs and Border Protection agents took Ms Petrova into custody upon her return from France, as she attempted to enter the U.S. without the necessary clearance for the biological materials she was carrying.
Ms Petrova was employed as a researcher at Harvard’s Kirschner Lab, which is renowned for its work in cell and developmental research, including cancer studies.
The situation escalated when the Justice Department charged her with one count of smuggling items into the U.S. in May, noting that the scientist initially denied having the frog embryos in her luggage before eventually confessing to the allegations.
All of Ms Petrova’s claims that it was her first experience travelling with biological materials were dismissed, as agents revealed they had found a message on her phone from a Harvard colleague advising her to declare the samples.
“Having no prior experience transporting biological samples,” Ms Petrova’s lawyer argued, “my client was unfamiliar with U.S. customs requirements regarding these samples. She simply placed them in her luggage and did not declare them to CBP upon her entry.”
Prosecutors countered her argument with text messages from her colleague urging her to obtain the government’s “permission” to bring in the clawed frog embryos.
“If you bring samples or antibodies back, make sure you get the permission etc. Like that link I sent to Leon/group chat about frog embryos because TSA went through my bags at customs in Boston,” prosecutors quoted from a message on Ms Petrova’s phone.
The Russian scientist maintained that the samples were “non-hazardous, non-infectious, and non-toxic.”
Nevertheless, CBP agents detained Ms Petrova for four months and revoked her visa, which allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to transfer her first to a detention facility in Vermont, and later to another facility in Louisiana.
“It remains difficult to understand why someone like Kseniia had to spend four months in jail. She poses no danger and has deep ties to her community,” Gregory Romanovsky, Ms Petrova’s lawyer, stated to CBS on Thursday.
