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NAS Jax lieutenant, wife linked to smuggling scheme, illegal gun trading involving the Chinese

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local Navy lieutenant and his wife are accused of illegally helping a Chinese national purchase firearms and then lying about it to the FBI.

Related: Neighbors: Person led away in handcuffs from Jacksonville home raided by FBI, NCIS

Action News Jax showed you video of the FBI and NCIS raiding Lt. Fan Yang's home in San Jose Thursday.

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According to federal documents, Yang is charged in a scheme that used a shell company to, "smuggle goods from the U.S."

According to the 40-page federal complaint, Yang is a Naval Officer stationed at Naval Air Station Jacksonville with top secret clearance. He's currently assigned to the Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Weapons School at NAS Jax.

RELATED: Read the criminal complaint

The complaint also lists his wife, Yang, who he married in 2013, the year after he attained top secret clearance.

It also lists Zheng Yan, a 27-year-old Chinese citizen here on a visa who works for Shanghai Breeze Technology Co. Ltd., which the FBI determined was a shell company.

RELATED: Jacksonville Navy Lt., wife in federal court, allegedly helped Chinese national smuggle guns, boats 

The fourth person is Ge Songtao, a Chinese national listed as chairman of that company.

Songtao and Yan are currently in police custody in Lafayette, La.

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According to documents, Fan and his wife worked to help Ge illegally get guns.

The documents call it, "an unlawful plan to commit offenses against the United States."

Documents also state Zheng wired Yang and Fan $200,000 from Shanghai Breeze for inflatable military boats.

Yang inquired about buying inflatable vessels that would be used by the "People's Republic of China Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Bureau."

The price was about $266,500.

The FBI reviewed more than 120 emails sent between November 2016 and October 2019.

The documents state they were going to buy inflatable vessels and instead of shipping them to Hong Kong they were going to be sent to mainland China.

Documents said Fan Yang hid his wife's relationship with Ge.

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