According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 42-year-old Shenghua Ven was sentenced to eight years in prison for sending weapons and military equipment to North Korea. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
He is accused of receiving approximately two million dollars from North Korean officials and carrying out the task of shipping these weapons from California. Ven came to the U.S. in 2012 on a student visa but remained in the country after his visa expired in 2013.
He met with officials at the North Korean embassy in China and received instructions to obtain weapons and other military products for the country. In 2023, Ven shipped at least three boxes of weapons from the Long Beach port to China, with plans to later send these weapons to North Korea.
Some boxes were falsely declared to contain refrigerators instead of weapons. Additionally, he purchased a weapons business in Houston, brought the weapons to California, and prepared them for shipment.
The United Nations Security Council has strictly prohibited the sale of weapons and military equipment to North Korea. The U.S. has also imposed several restrictions on North Korea due to its nuclear and missile programs.
At the same time, North Korea has found ways to circumvent this ban and developed methods to secretly acquire weapons.
