ISTANBUL

A 33-year-old Chinese man was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa Airport on July 3 in execution of an international arrest warrant issued by US authorities, Italian officials confirmed on Monday.

Identified as Xu Zewei, the man is accused by the US of being part of a Chinese government-linked hacking group that allegedly carried out cyberespionage operations targeting American universities and researchers during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

The arrest was executed by Italian police around 11 am local time (0900 GMT) upon Xu’s arrival on a flight from Shanghai.

He is now being held in precautionary detention at the Busto Arsizio prison in the province of Varese.

According to court documents cited by the Italian Interior Ministry, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accuses Xu of participating in a "large-scale cyber intrusion campaign," referred to as "Hafnium," which reportedly targeted thousands of computers globally to extract sensitive information, including data on US government policy and vaccine research.

The FBI investigation claims Xu and other Chinese nationals infiltrated the computer systems of various universities, immunologists, and virologists, specifically those connected to anti-COVID-19 vaccine development at the University of Texas, beginning in February 2020.

The US District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued the warrant on Nov. 2, 2023, charging Xu with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, unauthorized access to protected computers, and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he faces multiple sentences ranging from two to 20 years.

Italian Judge Veronica Tallarida of the Fifth Criminal Appeal Court of Milan validated the arrest on July 4, citing a concrete risk of flight, noting that Xu had only just arrived in Italy and had no ties to the country.

Xu’s mobile phone has been seized for further investigation into the alleged cyber activities.

Xu is scheduled to appear before the Milan Court of Appeal on Friday for identification and to declare whether he consents to extradition.

The extradition proceedings are expected to continue for several weeks.