The United States Department of Justice has announced the arrest of an illegal Chinese National on a criminal complaint alleging that he exported shipments of firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea. According to the DOJ, the items were concealed inside shipping containers bound from Long Beach.

Shenghua Wen, 41, a Chinese national illegally residing in Ontario, California, was arrested and made his initial appearance on December 3 in the Central District of California. According to an affidavit filed a week prior alongside the complaint, Wen obtained firearms, ammunition and export-controlled technology with the intent to ship them to North Korea, a violation of federal law and U.S. sanctions against that nation.

Among the items seized by law enforcement on August 14 from Wen’s home were a chemical threat identification device and a hand-held broadband receiver that detects eavesdropping devices. Less than a month later, on September 6, law enforcement seized approximately 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition, all of which he intended to send to North Korea for military use. 

In reviewing Wen’s iPhone, law enforcement discovered evidence of Wen smuggling items from the busy Long Beach harbor through Hong Kong to North Korea in December 2023. Messages retrieved from his cellphones revealed earlier discussions with his co-conspirators, including photographs of controlled items under International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), detailing the shipment of military-grade equipment to North Korea

Between January and April of this year, Wen also sent emails and text messages to a U.S.-based broker about obtaining a civilian plane engine, including text messages on Wen’s iPhone concerning price negotiation for the plane and its engine.

The Chinese national remained illegally in the United States after overstaying his student visa, which prohibits him from possessing any firearms or ammunition. Unsurprisingly, Wen lacks the required licenses from the U.S. government to export any of the weapons, ammunition or regulated devices that were seized at his home.

Wen is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, carrying a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

The FBI, ATF, Homeland Security, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security are investigating. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Gerdes for the Central District of California and trial attorney Ahmed Almudallal of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

CNN has suggested that the items being shipped are intended to help ‘prepare for a surprise attack on South Korea,’ a notion that makes me question the volume of the shipments and wonder how many additional ‘agents’ of North Korea might exist and be doing this same thing right under the noses of U.S. authorities. The situation also gives rise to thoughts about important work that regulatory and law enforcement agencies must engage in for the best interest of the country and national security rather than wasting resources trying to make criminals out of law-abiding gun owners here in America.