Authorities seized nearly 11,000 Assault Weapons parts smuggled into the U.S. from China in Louisville, Kentucky – a city facing violent riots rife with illegal firearms – amid a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry into Chinese involvement in nationwide protests.

The shipment, valued at almost $130,000, originated from Shenzen, China and was intended for a residence in Melbourne, Florida.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Louisville, however, intercepted the illegal weapons deal, emphasizing unreported weapons minimize the U.S.’s “safe and strong” status.

“The importing of any type of munitions is regulated by the ATF,” said Thomas Mahn, Port Director, Louisville. “This smuggler was knowingly trying to avoid detection, however, our officers remain vigilant, ensuring our community is safe.”

The June 26th announcement cast Wall Street Journal reports of illegal firearms appearing around Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in Louisville and across the country in an interesting – and perhaps foreign – light.

It also follows a fatal shooting in the area leaving one American dead, perhaps, as a result of illegally imported Chinese weapons.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray stated the bureau was “looking carefully” at foreign involvement or interference, chiefly at the hands of China, in nationwide protests responding to the death of George Floyd.

Wray also noted the FBI has over 2,000 active investigations into the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Chinese state media, mouthpieces for the CCP, have reveled in the violence and destruction faced by the U.S., with a Global Times editorial noting “protests and chaos have spread from the US state of Minnesota to the rest of the country, and Chinese netizens are cheering.”

China is responsible for the deaths of countless Americans – whether fueling the country’s opioid epidemic or spawning and spreading the  novel coronavirus to the world writ large.