Chinese man gets sentenced in US for eight years over smuggling arms
(MENAFN) A Chinese citizen has been sentenced to eight years in prison in the United States for illegally shipping firearms and other military items to North Korea, according to the US justice department.
Shenghua Wen, 42, was reportedly paid around $2 million by North Korean officials to transport the items from California. A resident of Ontario, California, Wen has been in custody since December 2024. He pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.
The case highlights North Korea’s ongoing efforts to bypass international sanctions on its arms trade.
The justice department described Wen as an "illegal alien," noting that he entered the US on a student visa in 2012 and remained in the country after his visa expired in December 2013.
"Prior to entering the United States, Wen met with officials from North Korea's government at a North Korean embassy in China," the agency said. "These government officials directed Wen to procure goods on behalf of North Korea."
In 2022, two North Korean officials contacted Wen through an online messaging platform, instructing him to smuggle firearms and other items from the US to North Korea, according to reports.
By 2023, Wen had shipped at least three containers of firearms from the Port of Long Beach to China, with North Korea as the final destination. He also filed false export documentation for the containers’ contents.
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