Iranian-Born Woman Arrested for Allegedly Helping Iran Traffic Weapons to Sudan
The authorities allege Mafi started working for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security after securing a green card in 2016, “using an Omani shell company to move weapons and cash between the government and its proxies.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli announced the feds arrested an Iranian-born woman for allegedly helping Iran traffic weapons to Iran on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
“Last night, Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport for trafficking arms on behalf of the government of Iran,” Essayli wrote on X. “She is charged with a violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705 for brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran and sold to Sudan.”
The Los Angeles Times noted that Sudan has been in a civil war, leaving over 100,000 dead and displacing millions since 2023.
Last night, Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport for trafficking arms on behalf of the government of Iran. She is charged with a violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705 for brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of… pic.twitter.com/l39Gf1WVed
— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) April 19, 2026
The feds arrested Mafi before she could board a flight to Turkey from Los Angeles International Airport.
Mafi became a lawful permanent U.S. resident in 2016. She first emigrated to Turkey before landing in Los Angeles. Records show she made frequent trips to Iran, Oman, and Turkey.
The authorities allege Mafi started working for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security after securing a green card in 2016, “using an Omani shell company to move weapons and cash between the government and its proxies.”
This is crazy:
In July of 2024, as fighting raged in Khartoum, a Sudanese weapons broker WhatsApped Mafi to contract a shipment of Qods Mohajer-6 drones — the same ones Iran has long supplied Russia in its war in Ukraine, according to the complaint. At least some of the weapons Mafi sold to the military arrived in Sudan from China.
Subsequent exchanges frequently referenced the complexity of moving cash to evade U.S. sanctions. A portion of the money was delivered in crates of $100 bills, while other transfers were made through hawalas, informal money-exchange systems that operate throughout the Middle East and parts of Africa, and still others through banks in Dubai.
“I[t] should be in small amounts,” Mafi instructed one of her Sudanese contacts over WhatsApp while brokering a payment in 2024, according to court documents. “In turkey we can just accept in exchange. And it should be in cash.”
Documents obtained by the FBI and detailed in the criminal complaint name Mafi’s shell company as the exporter of the drones, and the Sudanese Ministry of Defense as their buyer.
The criminal complaint accuses Mafi of meeting with Sudanese contacts in Tehran. One meeting included Sudanese officials to inspect bomb fuses, but Mafi did not attend since the facility does not allow women.
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Comments
What’s the betting line on a #Resistance Federal judge cutting her loose?
If that happens Mossad needs to disappear her after she flies out of the US.
Can they give us a BOGO on the judge?
According to the Jew haters they’ll bring down the nearest skyscraper on the judge.
It would be in Israel’s best interest to grab and wring dry this person if they escape from US jurisdiction. However, don’t know if they will. There plate is pretty full I would guess.
The authorities allege Mafi started working for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security after securing a green card in 2016
Oh, I’m betting she was working for them before securing that green card. I’m betting they were why she worked to get a green card.
Time to re-vet every single green card holder from that part of the world. Those that fail get immediately deported – as in same day. They can challenge their deportation from the other end.
Mafi is a citizen of Iran and owns a home in Iran. She told federal investigators that most of her business was in Tehran rather than in the United States, meaning that she spent productive time living and working from her home base in Iran.
She also travelled frequently to Oman since she co-owns and operates Atlas International Business, a company registered in Oman.
She owns no property in California, but rather rents a house there where she lived when not she was not working.
Misleading KTLA headlines says: “Local woman accused of trafficking weapons”.
waiting for the depots to be found in mn chicago dearborn etc
and hey,,,why is omar not being brought up oin charges of fraud for her self proclaimed “mistakes” regarding her frauds..be it personal or the lering facility scams!!!!?????
So far there’s no evidence of fraud on her part. There’s no indication she had anything to do with the Learing Center or any of its lookalikes. And whatever the flaws in her disclosure statement it certainly doesn’t constitute fraud, because no one was cheated of anything. Overstating ones assets probably isn’t even an offense of any kind.
It is in New York. Especially when a judge and prosecutors are the only one in the world to say you did
A congressman’s disclosure of assets is not a business record. And it’s not in NY.
California women is in the house. Next up, Federal Judge orders her release on cashless bail because….just because TRUMP
Overstating ones assets as a member of Congress throws the red flag of needing a forensic audit.
IMO every elected official needs a yearly audit and so do all the members of their family.
Overstating ones assets on a declaration could just be an “abundance of caution” thing. Or a mistake. One thing seems certain: It can’t have been a deliberate misstatement for nefarious purposes, because why would they do that?
Everyone was wondering how on earth the hedge fund and winery could have jumped in value so much; now we have an answer, that they didn’t.
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