California Man Arrested for Allegedly Exporting Shipments of Firearms, Ammunition and Other Military Items to North Korea
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Office of Public Affairs
Shenghua Wen, 41, of Ontario, California, was arrested today on a criminal complaint alleging that he exported shipments of firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea that were concealed inside shipping containers bound from Long Beach.
Wen, a Chinese national illegally residing in the United States, was arrested this morning and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in the Central District of California.
According to an affidavit filed on Nov. 26 with the complaint, Wen obtained firearms, ammunition, and export-controlled technology with the intention of shipping them to North Korea — a violation of federal law and United States sanctions against that nation. Wen and his co-conspirators allegedly exported shipments of firearms and ammunition to North Korea by concealing the items inside shipping containers that were shipped from Long Beach through Hong Kong to North Korea.
On Aug. 14, law enforcement seized at Wen’s home two devices that he intended to send to North Korea for military use: a chemical threat identification device and a hand-held broadband receiver that detects eavesdropping devices. On Sept. 6, law enforcement seized approximately 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that Wen allegedly obtained to send to North Korea.
A review of Wen’s iPhone revealed to law enforcement that in December 2023, Wen smuggled items from Long Beach to Hong Kong with their destination being North Korea. Messages retrieved from Wen’s cellphones revealed discussions he had earlier this year with co-conspirators about shipping military-grade equipment to North Korea. Some of these messages include photographs that Wen sent of items controlled for export under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. From January to April, Wen sent emails and text messages to a U.S.-based broker about obtaining a civilian plane engine. There also were several text messages on Wen’s iPhone concerning price negotiation for the plane and its engine.
Wen is a Chinese national who is illegally in the United States after overstaying his student visa and is therefore prohibited from possessing any firearms or ammunition. Wen lacks the required licenses from the U.S. government to export ammunition, firearms, and the other devices that law enforcement seized at his home to North Korea.
Wen is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Gerdes for the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Ahmed Almudallal of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
—
Chinese man in U.S. charged with sending weapons to North Korea
Shenghua Wen, who was living in California illegally under an expired visa, exported the ammunition and other materials to North Korea in shipping containers, officials said.
A Chinese man living in the U.S. illegally was arrested Tuesday and accused of exporting guns and ammunition to North Korea and of planning to send other technology to the nuclear-armed pariah state.
Shenghua Wen, 41, was living in Ontario, in Southern California east of Los Angeles, on an expired visa when he conducted the illicit trade, officials said.
At least two shipments of firearms and ammunition were sent, hidden in shipping containers, from the port in Long Beach and on to Hong Kong and then North Korea, according to court documents.
“The significance of this arrest and discovery of this scheme cannot be overstated,” Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said in a statement.
Law enforcement seized some material in the U.S. before it could be shipped, officials said.
In September, authorities searched Wen’s home and found around 50,000 rounds of 9 mm ammunition and a receiver that detects eavesdropping devices, the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said.
Wen came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2012 but stayed after it expired, according to an affidavit filed as part of the criminal complaint.
Wen told U.S. investigators that before he came to the U.S. he had met with North Korean officials at consulates in China and that they instructed him to send goods to North Korea, which is under severe sanctions restricting trade, according to the affidavit.
Wen said that in 2022, he was contacted by two North Korean officials in China who wanted him to send guns and ammunition to North Korea, the affidavit alleges.
Wen bought the guns through straw buyers, mostly in Texas, and drove them to California, according to prosecutors. He “stated that it was a simple process for him to purchase firearms,” the affidavit alleges.
He is accused of working with other, unnamed co-conspirators. The author of the affidavits is redacted, and some other information in the document is redacted, as well.
The North Korean officials had more than guns and ammunition on their minds, according to the affidavit.
Wen told investigators that the officials he was in contact with wanted him to send civilian aircraft engines to help the North Korean military’s drone program, the affidavit author wrote.
Wen’s phone showed messages about a part and controller of the Star Safire system, a military video and infrared system for use on aircraft, the affidavit says.
The North Korean officials also asked for military uniforms, which Wen said he believed would be used to help launch a surprise attack against South Korea, the document says.
Online court records did not appear to show Wen’s case in publicly available documents, and it was not clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf Tuesday afternoon.
Wen is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. If he is convicted, that charge carries up to 20 years in prison, the prosecutor’s office said.
—
一名中国来的非法移民在加州向朝鲜输送武器，今天被捕。此人名叫温盛华，2012年持学生签证到美国，有效期一年（应是上语言学校），逾期不归，2018年被判遣返后在加州住下来。去年以他人名义花15万美元购买得州一家武器经销公司，将武器运到洛杉矶，伪装成冰箱和相机配件，装了两个集装箱到香港，再运到朝鲜，朝鲜给了200万美元。还向朝鲜提供美军军服，说是朝鲜准备在美国搞突然袭击。
发表回复