Semi-Automatic weapons, rifles, etc lay across a table for people to look at, during the Novi Gun and Knife Show at Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich. on Feb. 24, 2018.
Los Angeles, California – An individual residing illegally in the United States has pleaded guilty to federal charges involving the covert export of firearms, ammunition, and sensitive military technology to North Korea. Shenghua Wen, 42, originally from China and living in Ontario, California, admitted to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.
Wen’s criminal activities, conducted at the direction of North Korean government officials, involved concealing shipments inside containers that departed from the Port of Long Beach. According to court records, Wen received approximately $2 million in wire transfers from North Korean contacts to facilitate these illicit transactions. Wen has been in federal custody since his arrest in December 2024.
The scheme traces back to Wen’s entry to the United States in 2012 on a student visa, which he overstayed after it expired in late 2013. Before his arrival, Wen had met North Korean officials at their embassy in China, where he agreed to procure and smuggle restricted goods to support the regime’s military objectives.
In 2022, North Korean operatives contacted Wen via online messaging platforms by North Korean operatives who instructed him to acquire firearms, ammunition, and high-tech equipment from the U.S. and ship them to North Korea via China. Throughout 2023, Wen orchestrated the shipment of at least three containers loaded with firearms from the Port of Long Beach, using false export documentation to obscure their actual contents. One such shipment, declared as a refrigerator, reached Hong Kong before being forwarded to Nampo, North Korea.
Further illustrating the breadth of the conspiracy, Wen purchased a firearms business in Houston, funded by intermediaries linked to the North Korean government, and transported many weapons from Texas to California for export. He also acquired about 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition in September 2024, as well as sophisticated technology including a chemical threat detection device and a broadband receiver capable of identifying illicit transmissions. Additional items included a civilian airplane engine and a thermal imaging system designed for aerial reconnaissance.
Wen admitted full knowledge of the illegality of exporting such items to North Korea and acknowledged he never obtained the necessary licenses or notified the U.S. Attorney General as required by law when acting on behalf of a foreign government.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 18 before U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson. Wen faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for violating the IEEPA and up to 10 years for acting as an illegal agent, underscoring the gravity with which U.S. authorities are treating attempts to breach sanctions and aid North Korea’s military capabilities.
