It has now been alleged by the Justice Department that an illegal immigrant from China reportedly bought and smuggled a massive amount of firearms and ammunition to North Korea from California.
In the Central District of California, a new federal complaint has been filed against Shenghua Wen and other unnamed co-conspirators.
According to court documents, federal agents confiscated two devices from Wen’s residence in Ontario, California, on August 14. Wen acknowledged that he had acquired the devices to transmit to the North Korean government for military purposes.
Those items were a “Serstech Arx mkII Pharma device — a chemical threat identification device” and “an ANDRE Deluxe Near-Field Detection device,” which is a handheld broadband receiver that detects known, unknown, illegal, disruptive, or interfering transmissions.
The manufacturer claims that it is portable, non-alerting, and ideal for locating hidden eavesdropping devices.
Federal agents also confiscated 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition from Wen’s van, which was parked outside his residence on September 6.
The defendant allegedly admitted to procuring the ammunition to deliver to North Korea at the direction of North Korean government officials.
Wen allegedly entered the United States in 2012 on a student visa and remained in the country illegally after his visa expired, according to the complaint.
Wen allegedly acknowledged during interviews with investigators that he had encountered North Korean government officials at two distinct North Korean Consulates in China prior to his arrival in the United States.
He was allegedly instructed to procure goods on behalf of the North Korean government, likely due to his reputation for “smuggling.”
He is purported to have informed investigators that North Korean government officials transmitted him approximately $2 million to purchase firearms and other products on behalf of the North Korean government.
According to the complaint, Wen informed investigators that he was under the impression that the North Korean government was interested in the firearms and ammunition in order to launch a potential attack on South Korea.
He purportedly stated that the North Korean government desired him to acquire military uniforms for the purpose of conducting a surprise attack.
According to the complaint, Wen registered with the Texas Secretary of State by listing his partner’s name as the business proprietor and purchasing an armory and a federal firearm license for $150,000.
Wen claimed that he had others make the purchases for him, as he was aware that gun stores would notify the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) if he attempted to purchase firearms directly.
The straw purchasers delivered the firearms to WEN, who then transported them to California, packed them into a shipping container, and dispatched the container to China.
Wen was aware that the container would be transferred to North Korea.
Wen disclosed that he acquired numerous firearms that he then dispatched to North Korea.
He transported the firearms from Texas to California on three distinct occasions.
Wen allegedly informed investigators that the transports occurred in both October 2023 and December 2023.
A press conference was conducted by the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles on Tuesday to discuss the progress of the investigation.
[READ MORE: Fox News Contributor Dead]
