A Chinese national living in California has been charged with shipping weapons, ammunition, and military equipment to North Korea. Shenghua Wen, 41, who is allegedly in the US illegally after overstaying his student visa, was arrested Tuesday, USA Today reports. The Department of Justice says he "exported shipments of firearms and ammunition to North Korea by concealing the items inside shipping containers that were shipped from Long Beach through Hong Kong to North Korea," and that at least two of the shipments were successfully exported, the BBC reports. He is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and faces up to two decades behind bars, KTLA reports.
Authorities say North Korea wired Wen $2 million, which he used to purchase items that included the 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammo, chemical threat identification device, and handheld broadband receiver to detect eavesdropping devices that authorities say they seized from Wen's home as well as a van outside his home. Wen first entered the US on the student visa in 2012. Wen allegedly told federal authorities North Korea wanted the equipment to prepare for a "surprise attack on South Korea." An assistant director for the FBI in Los Angeles says, "the significance of this arrest and discovery of this scheme cannot be overstated." (More North Korea stories.)
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