The US has sentenced a Chinese national to eight years in prison for illegally exporting firearms, ammunition, and other military items to North Korea via Hong Kong in return for US$2 million in payments from Pyongyang “for his efforts”, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.
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Taking advantage of lax US gun laws, Shenghua Wen, 42, purchased many of the weapons in Texas and drove them to California, where they were shipped out of the Port of Long Beach, according to court documents. At least one shipment was listed as a refrigerator on export documents.
“Wen is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China who entered the United States in 2012 on a student visa and remained in the US illegally after his student visa expired in December 2013,” the department said.
“Prior to entering the United States, Wen met with officials from North Korea’s government” at two North Korean consulates in China who directed Wen to procure goods on Pyongyang’s behalf, it added.
Wen, who was taken into custody in December, pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. His sentence was handed down on Monday by the US District Court for the Central District of California.
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As outlined by the Justice Department, two North Korean officials contacted Wen online in 2022, nearly a decade after Pyongyang made its original contact, and directed him to buy and smuggle US firearms, related goods and sensitive technology to North Korea by way of China.