LA woman arrested on charge of helping Iran traffic weapons to Sudan
US federal prosecutors say a 44-year-old Los Angeles girl was arrested Saturday night time at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport on suspicion of serving to Iran visitors weapons to Sudan, which is in its fourth yr of a bloody civil conflict.
Shamim Mafi will face fees that she brokered the sale of “drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and thousands and thousands of rounds of ammunition” between Iran and the Sudanese Armed Forces, First US Legal professional Invoice Essayli says on social media.
A telephone quantity for Mafi couldn’t be positioned and it isn’t identified if she has an lawyer who can converse on her behalf.
Essayli posts a photograph of somebody in an FBI jacket escorting a lady into the again of a sedan exterior a terminal at LAX.
Final night time, Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills, was arrested at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport for trafficking arms on behalf of the federal government of Iran. She is charged with a violation of fifty U.S.C. § 1705 for brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and thousands and thousands of… pic.twitter.com/l39Gf1WVed
— F.A. United States Legal professional Invoice Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) April 19, 2026
Mafi is an Iranian nationwide who turned a lawful everlasting resident of the US in 2016, Essayli says.
A felony grievance dated March 12 alleges that Mafi and an unnamed co-conspirator operated an organization in Oman referred to as Atlas Worldwide Enterprise by way of which weapons and ammunition have been trafficked. The corporate acquired over $7 million in funds in 2025.
Individually, Mafi and the co-conspirator brokered the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to the Sudanese Ministry of Protection, in accordance with the court docket paperwork.
“In reference to the transaction, Mafi submitted a letter of intent to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (‘IRGC’) to buy the bomb fuses for Sudan,” the grievance says.
Mafi is scheduled to look in US District Court docket in Los Angeles on Monday. If convicted, she may withstand 20 years in jail.
The Sudanese civil conflict has created a humanitarian disaster within the North African nation, the place meals provides are dwindling and thousands and thousands of individuals have fled their houses.
