On Tuesday, an undocumented Chinese immigrant to the United States was taken into custody on charges of supplying North Korea with weapons and ammunition and preparing to transfer additional technologies to the nuclear-armed pariah state.
According to authorities, Shenghua Wen, 41, was engaged in the illegal activity while residing in Ontario, Southern California, east of Los Angeles, on a visa that had expired.
According to court records, at least two shipments of weapons and ammunition were shipped from the port in Long Beach, California, to Hong Kong and ultimately North Korea while concealed in shipping containers.
According to a statement from Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, the importance of this arrest and the uncovering of this plot cannot be emphasized.
According to officials, police enforcement in the United States confiscated some of the material before it could be sent.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, when police searched Wen’s home in September, they discovered almost 50,000 rounds of 9 millimeter ammunition as well as a receiver that can identify eavesdropping devices.
According to an affidavit included in the criminal charge against him, Wen entered the country in 2012 on a student visa but remained after it expired.
According to the affidavit, Wen informed U.S. investigators that he had met with North Korean officials at Chinese consulates before to his arrival in the United States, and they gave him instructions to ship products to North Korea, which is subject to rigorous trade restrictions.
According to the affidavit, Wen said in 2022 that two North Korean officials in China had contacted him and asked him to deliver weapons and ammunition to North Korea.
Prosecutors claim that Wen drove the firearms to California after purchasing them mostly in Texas through straw buyers. According to the affidavit, Wen claimed that buying firearms was an easy process.
He allegedly collaborated with other unidentified criminals. Along with certain other information in the document, the affidavits’ author has been redacted.
According to the affidavit, the North Korean officials were thinking about more than just weapons and ammunition.
According to the author of the document, Wen informed investigators that the officials with whom he was in contact wanted him to provide civilian aircraft engines to support the North Korean military’s drone program.
Allegedly, Wen’s phone displayed messages pertaining to a controller and component of the Star Safire system, a military infrared and video system intended for use on airplanes.
According to the paper, Wen stated that he thought the North Korean officials would use the military outfits that they requested to aid in the launch of a surprise attack against South Korea.
Wen’s case did not seem to be included in publicly accessible documents in online court records, and it was unclear whether he had a lawyer available to speak on his behalf Tuesday afternoon.
Conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act is the charge against Wen. According to the prosecutor’s office, the charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail if found guilty.
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