By Adriel Perez-Gonzalez, Contributor Daily Caller News Foundation | June 10, 2025
Officials said Monday that a Chinese national and alleged illegal alien in California purchased a Texas gun store in a plot to ship firearms to North Korea.
Forty-two-years-old Shenghua Wen resided in Ontario, California, and was taken into custody in December 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Central District of California stated in a press release.
Wen pleaded guilty to “illegally exporting firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea by concealing them inside shipping containers,” according to the USAO. He admitted 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, the press release said.
Wen is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China and entered the U.S. in 2012 on a student visa, the USAO said. However, he allegedly stayed in the U.S. illegally after his visa expired in December of 2013, according to a plea agreement obtained by the USAO.
Wen was accused of meeting with North Korean officials before entering the U.S. at a North Korean Embassy in China, and these government officials directed Wen to obtain goods on behalf of North Korea, per the press release.
Wen shipped at least three containers of firearms from Long Beach, California, to China and eventually North Korea in 2023, according to the USAO.
He allegedly purchased a firearms store in Houston, Texas, in May 2023 to illegally ship firearms to North Korea, according to the USAO. He drove the weapons from Texas to California so they could be shipped, the press release added.
In December 2023, one of his weapons shipments left the Long Beach shipping port, and it was reportedly shipped under the guise of containing a refrigerator, the press release noted.
After leaving Long Beach, the December 2023 shipment arrived in Hong Kong, where it was later transported to Nampo, North Korea, the USAO said.
In September 2024, Wen allegedly bought around 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that he intended to send to North Korea, according to the press release.
Alongside firearms, Wen also obtained technology which he intended to send to North Korea, including a chemical threat identification device and a handheld broadband receiver which “detects known, unknown, illegal, disruptive, or interfering transmissions,” according to the USAO.
North Korean officials sent Wen about $2 million to procure the firearms and other items, the press release stated.
Wen faces up to 30 years in prison total, and his sentencing is scheduled for August, per the USAO.
The office of Bill A. Essayli, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California declined to comment to the Daily Caller on the sentencing the office would be seeking.
However, they indicated that an announcement would be forthcoming in the following months after filing the sentencing moratorium.
Adriel Perez-Gonzalez is a contributor at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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