The Votes Are In!
2024 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → Politics Dec 03, 2024
Authorities displayed these weapons and military items connected with the alleged smuggling scheme by a Chinese national living in Ontario. | Photo courtesy of US Attorney L.A./X
by
share with
Federal authorities arrested an Ontario resident Tuesday for allegedly shipping large quantities of weapons to North Korea for use in a “surprise attack on South Korea,” officials announced Tuesday.
Shenghua Wen, a 41-year-old Chinese national, and his co-conspirators exported at least two shipments of guns and ammunition to North Korea in 2023 by hiding the items inside shipping containers out of Long Beach through Hong Kong and on to North Korea, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court.
“It is essential that we protect our country from hostile foreign states that have adverse interests to our nation,” Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement. “We have arrested a defendant who allegedly acted at the direction of the North Korean government by conspiring to illegally ship firearms, ammunition and other military equipment to North Korea.”
On Aug. 14, federal agents seized a chemical threat identification device and a hand-held receiver that eavesdrops on transmissions from Wen’s home, the U.S. Attorney’s office reported. Wen admitted he obtained the items to send to the North Korean government for military purposes.
Wen, who allegedly remained in the U.S. illegally on an expired student visa issued in 2012, is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a felony with a possible 20-year prison sentence.
At his initial court appearance Tuesday in downtown LA, a judge ordered Wen detained. His arraignment was scheduled for Jan. 7.
“The significance of this arrest and discovery of this scheme cannot be overstated,” Akil Davis, the FBI’s Los Angeles assistant director in charge, said at a news conference. “Not only did the investigative team prevent additional restricted items going to the North Korean regime, but they gathered valuable intelligence for the United States and our allies.”
According to court documents, Wen violated federal law and U.S. sanctions against North Korea by obtaining firearms, ammunition and export-controlled technology with the intention of illegally exporting them. On Sept. 6 investigators confiscated approximately 50,000 rounds of 9 mm ammunition that Wen allegedly intended to ship to North Korea.
“In light of the extraordinary threat North Korea poses, there must be approval from the U.S. government to ship such items to North Korea,” Estrada said during the news conference. He added that North Korea schemed “to circumvent those restrictions.”
Before Wen left China to travel to the U.S., he and North Korean government representatives planned the scheme. Wen then received at least $2 million from North Korea to pay for materials and shipping costs, Estrada said.
In the U.S., Wen purchased a business to obtain weapons and other items to export to North Korea, prosecutors said. Those items included military uniforms “to help conduct a surprise attack on South Korea,” Estrada said Wen was told.
From January to April, Wen sent emails and text messages to a U.S.-based broker about acquiring a civilian plane engine, prosecutors said. There also were several text messages on Wen’s mobile phone about price negotiation for the plane and its engine.
Updated Dec. 4, 2024, 10:23 a.m.
