Chinese national allegedly bought guns in Texas, shipped them to North Korea

The North Korean flag is seen in the countrys embassy compounds in Kuala Lumpur on March 19, 2021, after North Korea severed diplomatic ties with Malaysia in response to the extradition of a citizen to the US earlier this month. (Photo by Sazali Ahma
Federal immigration authorities say a Chinese man, living in California illegally, bought guns in Texas and shipped them to North Korea.
Shengua Wen, a 41-year-old who allegedly outstayed his student visa in 2012 and remained in the U.S. illegally, was arrested on Tuesday.
According to an unsealed federal affidavit, Wen exported at least two shipments of firearms and ammo to North Korea by hiding the items in shipping containers.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada claims that before Wen left China to come to the United States on a student visa he met with North Korean officials to come up with the plan.
(Source: US Central District of California Court Documents)
An August raid of Wen’s home found a chemical threat identification device and a handheld receiver used to locate hidden eavesdropping devices. Wen told investigators he planned to send those items to the North Korean military, according to the affidavit.
In September, federal agents seized 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition from a van outside of his home. Federal officials say the North Korean government wired Wen $2 million to buy weapons for them and used the encrypted messaging app Wickr to communicate with him.
Wen said around May 2023, he paid around $150,000 for Houston-based AK5000 Inc., a federal firearms licensee, according to a criminal complaint.
Wen told investigators he knew he could not purchase firearms directly, so he used other people to buy the guns.
According to the affidavit, Wen told federal officials he bought most of the firearms in Texas and drove them to California on three separate trips.
Wen also told investigators that he was also asked to buy plane engines in the U.S. for the North Korean military to help with the country’s military drone program.
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“In light of the extraordinary threat North Korea poses, there must be approval from the U.S. government to ship such items to North Korea,” Estrada said during a news conference Tuesday.
Estrada believes that the technology was going to be used to conduct an attack on South Korea.
Wen could be arraigned in the coming weeks.
He is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a felony that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Information in this article comes from the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office and a criminal complaint against Wen.