Chinese National Pleads Guilty To Sending Guns, Ammo, Intel From US To North Korea

By Mark Chesnut The Truth About Guns

A Chinese illegal alien who bought a gun shop in Houston and used it to funnel guns, ammunition and stolen technology to North Korea has pleaded guilty of federal criminal charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to a DOJ news release, 42-year-old Shenghua Wen of Ontario, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Wen has been in federal custody since his arrest in December 2024.

According to his plea agreement, 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 U.S. illegally after his student 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 DOJ release stated. “These government officials directed Wen to procure goods on behalf of North Korea. In 2022, two North Korean government officials contacted Wen through an online messaging platform and instructed him to buy and smuggle firearms and other goods—including sensitive technology—from the United States to North Korea via China.

According to the DOJ, in 2023, at the direction of North Korean government officials, Wen shipped at least three containers of firearms out of the Port of Long Beach to China en route to their ultimate destination in North Korea. Wen took steps to conceal that he was illegally shipping firearms to North Korea by, among other things, filing false export information regarding the contents of the containers.

“In May 2023, Wen purchased a firearms business in Houston, paid for with money sent through intermediaries by one of Wen’s North Korean contacts,” the DOJ said. “Wen purchased many of the firearms he sent to North Korea in Texas and drove the firearms from Texas to California, where he arranged for them to be shipped.”

In December 2023, one of Wen’s weapons shipments—which he falsely reported to U.S. officials that it contained a refrigerator—left the Port of Long Beach and arrived in Hong Kong in January 2024. This weapons shipment was later transported from Hong Kong to Nampo, North Korea.

In September 2024, Wen—again acting at the direction of North Korean officials—bought approximately 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that he intended to ship to North Korea.

“In furtherance of the conspiracy and at the direction of North Korean officials, Wen also obtained sensitive technology that he intended to send to North Korea,” the DOJ said. “This technology included a chemical threat identification device and a handheld broadband receiver that detects known, unknown, illegal, disruptive or interfering transmissions.”

Wen also acquired or offered to acquire a civilian airplane engine and a thermal imaging system that could be mounted on a drone, helicopter, or other aircraft, and could be used for reconnaissance and target identification. During the scheme, North Korean officials wired approximately $2 million to Wen to procure firearms and other goods for their government.

Wen faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the count of violating the IEEPA and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Sentencing is scheduled for August 18.

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