A Chinese man residing within the U.S. illegally was arrested Tuesday and accused of exporting weapons and ammunition to North Korea and of planning to ship different expertise to the nuclear-armed pariah state.
Shenghua Wen, 41, was residing in Ontario, in Southern California east of Los Angeles, on an expired visa when he performed the illicit commerce, officers mentioned.
At least two shipments of firearms and ammunition have been despatched, hidden in delivery containers, from the port in Long Beach and on to Hong Kong after which North Korea, in accordance with court docket paperwork.
“The significance of this arrest and discovery of this scheme can’t be overstated,” Akil Davis, assistant director in control of the FBI’s Los Angeles discipline workplace, mentioned in a press release.
Law enforcement seized some materials within the U.S. earlier than it could possibly be shipped, officers mentioned.
In September, authorities searched Wen’s house and located round 50,000 rounds of 9 mm ammunition and a receiver that detects eavesdropping units, the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Los Angeles mentioned.
Wen got here to the U.S. on a scholar visa in 2012 however stayed after it expired, in accordance with an affidavit filed as a part of the felony criticism.
Wen instructed U.S. investigators that earlier than he got here to the U.S. he had met with North Korean officers at consulates in China and that they instructed him to ship items to North Korea, which is beneath extreme sanctions limiting commerce, in accordance with the affidavit.
Wen mentioned that in 2022, he was contacted by two North Korean officers in China who wished him to ship weapons and ammunition to North Korea, the affidavit alleges.
Wen purchased the weapons by means of straw patrons, principally in Texas, and drove them to California, in accordance with prosecutors. He “said that it was a easy course of for him to buy firearms,” the affidavit alleges.
He is accused of working with different, unnamed co-conspirators. The writer of the affidavits is redacted, and another info within the doc is redacted, as properly.
The North Korean officers had greater than weapons and ammunition on their minds, in accordance with the affidavit.
Wen instructed investigators that the officers he was in touch with wished him to ship civilian plane engines to assist the North Korean navy’s drone program, the affidavit writer wrote.
Wen’s cellphone confirmed messages a couple of half and controller of the Star Safire system, a navy video and infrared system to be used on plane, the affidavit says.
The North Korean officers additionally requested for navy uniforms, which Wen mentioned he believed could be used to assist launch a shock assault in opposition to South Korea, the doc says.
Online court docket information didn’t seem to indicate Wen’s case in publicly obtainable paperwork, and it was not clear whether or not he had an lawyer who may communicate on his behalf Tuesday afternoon.
Wen is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. If he’s convicted, that cost carries as much as 20 years in jail, the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned.