Kan Chen, High Tech U.S. Military Hardware Smuggling, Delaware 2016

Kan Chen, 26, of Ningbo, China, in Zhejiang Province, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations, attempting to violate the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Chen, who was arrested by HSI agents on the Northern Mariana Island of Saipan on June 16, 2015, after an eight-month long investigation, has remained in custody. He pleaded guilty to the offenses listed above on March 2, 2016.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Chen caused or attempted to cause the illegal export of over 180 export-controlled items, valued at over $275,000, from the United States to China. Over 40 of those items, purchased for more than $190,000, were sophisticated night vision and thermal imaging scopes, which are designated by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations as U.S. Munitions List defense articles and can be mounted on automatic and semi-automatic rifles and used for military purposes at night.

According to court documents, Chen devised a scheme to smuggle these items through Delaware and outside the United States. He purchased the devices via the internet and telephone and had them mailed to several reshipping services in New Castle, Delaware, which provide an American shipping address for customers located in China, accept packages for their customers and then re-ship them to China. In order to further conceal his illegal activity, Chen arranged for the re-shippers to send the devices to several intermediary individuals, who in turn forwarded the devices to Chen in China. Chen then sent the devices to his customers.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III of the District of Delaware, Acting Special Agent in Charge Gregory C. Nevano of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Philadelphia and Special Agent in Charge Nasir Khan of the U.S. Department of Commerce-Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Export Enforcement Washington Field Office made the announcement.

“The United States will simply never know the true harm of Chen’s conduct because the end users of the rifle scopes and other technology are unknown,” said U.S. Attorney Oberly. “No matter their nationality, those individuals who seek to profit by illegally exporting sensitive U.S. military technology will be prosecuted. It is important that we take all necessary steps to prevent our military technology and equipment from being exported and possibly used against our service members and our allies overseas.”

Chen’s scheme was a brazen attempt to evade U.S. export control laws and put sensitive military technology into the hands of who-knows-who. His sentence is a testament to the hard work of law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in bringing him to justice.

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