Florida chemistry whiz accused of poisoning neighbor flees to China

A former Florida chemistry student charged with injecting poisonous toxins underneath his neighbor’s front door has been deported to China and is unlikely to face charges in the US, The Post has learned.

Xuming Li drew international headlines earlier this year after he was caught on camera crouching down and pumping noxious materials into Umar Abdullah’s apartment amid an ongoing noise dispute.

Sources said Tuesday Li had been deported back to his native land by American immigration officials and that the criminal case against him was largely defunct.

Li’s attorney, Adam Bantner, confirmed his departure.

The budding scientist — who was expelled from the University of South Florida after the shocking case went viral — had pleaded not guilty to several felony raps, including battery and possession of a controlled substance.

But Li failed to appear at a scheduled hearing Monday due to his deportation, prompting a judge to issue a warrant for his arrest that would only activate in the unlikely event of his return to the US.

Li had been in the country pursuing his doctorate in chemistry on a student visa — and mixed the substances in his university’s lab.

Abdullah said he and Li had a cordial relationship after he first moved into an apartment directly above the chemist back in June of 2022.

Li — who lived with his own wife and two small kids — even gifted the Abdullahs a dress to mark the birth of their daughter.

But the relationship began to corrode after Li began sending Abdullah text messages grousing about noise coming from his apartment.

“By the way, could you please walk slower and not move furnitures after 11 pm?” Li asked. “The big sound always wakes us up.”

Abdullah, a tech professional from Bangladesh, said he was taken aback by the note but didn’t foresee an escalation.

But Li’s complaints grew increasingly caustic, prompting Abdullah to organize a simulation to test just how disruptive his family’s movements were.

While his wife and child remained upstairs in their apartment, Abdullah and a building staffer met Li in his residence and strained their ears.

Abdullah said he told his spouse to make every movement imaginable, from marching around the apartment to rearranging furniture to jumping.

Abdullah said there were few perceptible sounds, and he thought the feud would soon fizzle.

But Li persisted, buying a decibel-reading device in attempt to quantify the alleged racket.

“Again, there was barely anything,” Abdullah said.

A few months later, Abdullah said he and his family began experiencing sudden bouts of nausea and dizziness.

During one outbreak, Li reached out again.

“Can you walk softer?” he wrote. “We couldn’t sleep last night.”

Abdullah told him about the sicknesses in his reply.

“Sorry to hear that,” he responded. “My house is full of eye burning gas from the water heater. I was hurriedly opening my windows and doors and that was causing panic footsteps probably.”

Li — who would soon be charged for pumping an opioid mix into his neighbor’s home — gave a terse reply.

“I heard it from your landlord,” he said. “Sorry to hear your situation.”

Suspecting Li of somehow being behind the mystery maladies, Abdullah set up a hidden camera that caught Li crouching down and emptying a syringe full of chemicals underneath his front door.

He was arrested soon after.

Abdullah — who moved out of the apartment and said he feared retribution from Li — did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the deportation.