{"id":59479,"date":"2025-08-18T14:17:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T21:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=59479"},"modified":"2025-08-18T14:17:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T21:17:18","slug":"chinese-national-gets-8-years-for-smuggling-guns-ammo-and-tech-to-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=59479","title":{"rendered":"Chinese National Gets 8 Years for Smuggling Guns, Ammo, and Tech to North Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"158\" data-end=\"386\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong>LOS ANGELES<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"158\" data-end=\"386\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6759 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Department-of-Justice-300x197.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Department-of-Justice-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Department-of-Justice-90x60.jpg 90w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Department-of-Justice.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>A Chinese national who overstayed his U.S. student visa was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for exporting firearms, ammunition, and sensitive technology to North Korea at the direction of its government, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"388\" data-end=\"696\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong data-start=\"388\" data-end=\"405\">The Defendant<\/strong><\/span><br data-start=\"405\" data-end=\"408\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Shenghua Wen, 42, of Ontario, entered the U.S. in 2012 on a student visa and remained in the country illegally after it expired in 2013. <\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"388\" data-end=\"696\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Before arriving in the U.S., Wen met with North Korean officials in China and later received about $2 million from them to purchase and ship weapons and technology, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"698\" data-end=\"714\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong data-start=\"698\" data-end=\"712\">The Scheme, according to officials.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"715\" data-end=\"1423\">\n<li data-start=\"715\" data-end=\"859\">\n<p data-start=\"717\" data-end=\"859\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">In 2022, North Korean operatives instructed Wen to buy and smuggle firearms, ammo, and military tech from the U.S. to North Korea via China.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"860\" data-end=\"1060\">\n<p data-start=\"862\" data-end=\"1060\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">In 2023, Wen shipped at least three containers of firearms from the Port of Long Beach, falsifying export documents. One shipment disguised as a \u201crefrigerator\u201d reached North Korea by January 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1061\" data-end=\"1199\">\n<p data-start=\"1063\" data-end=\"1199\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">He bought a firearms business in Houston with North Korean funds, purchased weapons in Texas, and drove them to California for export.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1200\" data-end=\"1265\">\n<p data-start=\"1202\" data-end=\"1265\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">He attempted to ship 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1266\" data-end=\"1423\">\n<p data-start=\"1268\" data-end=\"1423\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Items procured included a chemical threat ID device, a broadband receiver, and attempts to acquire a civilian aircraft engine and thermal imaging system.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"1425\" data-end=\"1732\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong data-start=\"1425\" data-end=\"1452\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-6373 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Homeland-Security-Investigations-300x173.jpg\" alt=\"A police officer's back with &quot;POLICE HSI&quot; text.\" width=\"300\" height=\"173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Homeland-Security-Investigations-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Homeland-Security-Investigations.jpg 458w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Conviction &amp; Sentencing<\/strong><\/span><br data-start=\"1452\" data-end=\"1455\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Wen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. He admitted knowing the exports were illegal and never sought the required licenses or notified the U.S. Attorney General.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1425\" data-end=\"1732\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong data-start=\"1734\" data-end=\"1751\">Investigation<\/strong><\/span><br data-start=\"1751\" data-end=\"1754\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, ATF, DCIS, and the Commerce Department\u2019s Bureau of Industry and Security investigated. <\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1734\" data-end=\"1989\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Gerdes and Trial Attorney Ahmed Almudallal.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES A Chinese national who overstayed his U.S. student visa was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for exporting firearms, ammunition, and sensitive technology to North Korea at the direction&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chinese National Gets 8 Years for Smuggling Guns, Ammo, and Tech to North Korea<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LOS ANGELES A Chinese national who overstayed his U.S. student visa 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