North Korea paid Chinese man $2M to smuggle weapons from US

A Chinese national, who was in the US illegally, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for smuggling firearms, ammunition, and other military equipment to North Korea.

Shenghua Wen, 42, admitted that he knowingly engaged in the illegal export of military equipment as part of his agreement with North Korea, which wired him $2 million for his efforts, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Wen, who lived in Ontario, entered the US on a student visa in 2012 and stayed in the country even after the visa expired in December of the following year.

He appears to have arrived in the US with the intent of acting as a foreign agent, having met North Korean officials in Beijing beforehand.

“Prior to entering the United States, Wen met with officials from North Korea’s government at a North Korean embassy in China. These government officials directed Wen to procure goods on behalf of North Korea,” the DoJ said in a press release.

However, it was only in 2022 that two North Korean officials contacted Wen online and instructed him to buy and smuggle firearms and other goods, including sensitive technology, to North Korea. The weapons purchased in the US were to be sent through China.

At the request of his North Korean contacts, Wen shipped at least three containers of firearms from the Port of Long Beach, California, to China in 2023, with their ultimate destination being North Korea.

“Wen took steps to conceal that he was illegally shipping firearms to North Korea by, among other things, filing false export information regarding the contents of the containers,” the DoJ said.

One of these shipping containers, which Wen falsely claimed contained a refrigerator, arrived in Hong Kong in January last year before being transported to the port of Nampo, North Korea, later.

North Korea is actively involved in Russia’s war against Ukraine and is behind a number of elaborate schemes to siphon money from abroad, including through fake employment in foreign companies, crypto scams, and cyberattacks.

Texas connection

According to the authorities, Wen was able to carry out his scheme after purchasing a firearms business in Houston in May 2023. He used the money sent through intermediaries by one of his North Korean associates to close the deal.

Wen purchased many of the weapons that he sent to North Korea in Texas and then drove them to California for shipping.

In September last year, Wen bought approximately 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that he intended to ship to North Korea, but was arrested in December and has been in custody since then.

According to the DoJ, he also obtained a chemical threat identification device and a handheld broadband receiver, both considered sensitive technology, to be sent to North Korea.

Additionally, he either acquired or offered to acquire a civilian aeroplane engine and a thermal imaging system that could be mounted on a drone, helicopter, or other aircraft, and could be used for reconnaissance and target identification.

Wen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

He was sentenced to 96 months in prison by a district court in California.