Chinese illegal gets 8 years for shipping weapons to North Korea

An illegal immigrant from China was sentenced to eight years in prison for smuggling weapons and sensitive technology to North Korea, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.

Shenghua Wen, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, pleaded guilty to exporting firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea, according to the DOJ. Wen had entered the U.S. in 2012 on a student visa but remained in the country illegally after it expired in 2013.

Wen carried out the scheme at the direction of the North Korean government officials, who paid him roughly $2 million, according to the DOJ. The Chinese national has been in federal custody since December 2024.

The scheme began in 2022 when North Korean officials contacted Wen, directing him to buy and smuggle firearms and sensitive technology from the U.S. to North Korea through China, according to the DOJ. In 2023, Wen began shipping containers of weapons out of the Port of Long Beach in California while disguising the contents with falsified export documents.

Wen also purchased a firearms business in Houston with funds funneled through North Korean intermediaries. He purchased many of the weapons in Texas and drove them to California for shipment overseas.

The Chinese national also acquired sensitive technology for shipment to North Korea, including a chemical threat detector and a broadband receiver, and attempted to obtain items such as a thermal imaging system and an aircraft engine.

Wen’s sentencing follows other recent North Korea-related prosecutions. In July, an Arizona woman was sentenced to over eight years in prison for her role in a scheme that helped North Korean IT workers pose as U.S. citizens and residents to secure remote jobs at more than 300 U.S. companies — generating over $17 million for herself and the North Korean regime.

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