Woodland Hills woman nabbed at LAX on Iranian arms trafficking charge - BERITAJA

A Woodland Hills female was arrested astatine Los Angeles International Airport Saturday nighttime connected suspicion of helping Iran chimney weapons to its proxies successful Africa, propping up 1 of the world’s deadliest conflicts.

Shamim Mafi, 44, was nabbed connected charges she brokered the waste of “drones, bombs, explosive fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition” betwixt Iran and the Sudanese Armed Forces, First U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote connected X Sunday.

The Sudanese subject is locked successful a bloody civilian warfare that is estimated to person killed upwards of 100,000 group and displaced millions much since 2023, making it the deadliest of the ongoing proxy fights betwixt Gulf State powers.

Mafi, an Iranian migrant who sewage a greenish paper successful 2016, is alleged to person skirted American sanctions to shepherd munitions betwixt the Iranian authorities and its patron. She is the 3rd Angeleno from the city’s immense Iranian diaspora to beryllium collared by the FBI successful arsenic galore weeks.

Social media posts show Mafi posing pinch battle rifles and different dense weaponry astatine the offices of an arms supplier successful Turkey, betwixt candidshots from a Dubai med-spa and glamorous snaps by the formation successful Los Angeles.

She is expected to look successful national tribunal downtown Monday. If convicted, she could look up to 20 years successful prison.