Federal and state authorities in California arrested 13 alleged gang members from rival Armenian crime syndicates accused of attempted murder, kidnapping, and the theft of more than $83 million worth of Amazon cargo.
Authorities arrested the 13 on Tuesday and continue to seek another suspect. Authorities charged the defendants in five federal complaints "with a series of crimes -- including attempted murder, kidnapping, tens of millions of dollars’ worth of thefts of online retailer shipments, and illegal firearm possession -- to expand and maintain their control in the San Fernando Valley."
One defendant, Ara Artuni, 41, of Porter Ranch, was charged with attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and a rival, Robert Amiryan, 46, of Hollywood, was charged with kidnapping.
Law enforcement seized approximately $100,000 in cash, three armored vehicles, and 14 firearms during the operation, the Department of Justice said in a release on Tuesday.
DOJ cited affidavits filed with the criminal complaints as saying Armenian Organized Crime, a Russian mafia-affiliated transnational criminal organization, "has made Los Angeles County a center of U.S. operations" since 2022 when organization leaders, called avtoritet, which in Russian means “authority,” allegedly "engaged in a power struggle for control in their territory, resulting in multiple murder attempts and a kidnapping."
Artuni, an avtoritet, was charged with ordering the attempted murder of Amiryan during the summer of 2023, the DOJ said. "In retaliation, Amiryan, also an avtoritet, allegedly conspired with members of his own criminal organization to kidnap and torture one of Artuni’s associates in June 2023."
In addition to the violence, Artuni stands accused of, since 2021, committing bank fraud, wire fraud, and “cargo theft” from retailers like Amazon.
"Artuni Enterprise members and associates enrolled with Amazon as carriers, contracted for trucking routes, and then, while transporting the goods, diverged from the route and stole all or part of the shipment," the DOJ said. "To date, the Artuni Enterprise has allegedly stolen goods from Amazon worth more than $83 million, according to estimates provided by Amazon."
[Related: Owner-op jailed after unwitting participation in cargo theft: Cautionary tale]
Additionally, the Artuni Enterprise ran a "credit card bust-out” where they charged various credit cards "to a sham business then drained the business account before the credit card companies could collect the to-be-disputed funds," DOJ said.
“Today’s arrests reflect that my office and our law enforcement partners are committed to keeping America safe by dismantling transnational criminal organizations,” said United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Let today’s enforcement action be a warning to criminals: Our communities are not your playground to engage in violence and thuggery.”
Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles Acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge Dwayne Angebrandt added that “this transnational criminal organization operated with the structure and brutality of an international cartel, inflicting significant harm on public safety and causing substantial damage to legitimate commerce and supply chains. Dismantling transnational criminal organizations is at the core of HSI’s mission, and through close collaboration with our law enforcement partners, we are holding these perpetrators accountable and disrupting their criminal enterprise at every level.”
The arrests came after a collaboration between Burbank Police Department and federal authorities.
California has long represented a cargo theft hot spot. Recently, members of California's Cargo Theft Task Force described the state's booming cargo theft industry as causing estimated total losses of $445 million a year at least. California's "catch and release" policy for criminals sees the same cargo thieves, whom state authorities would spend months or years pursuing, getting a "free education" in court on how not to get caught, before getting released soon after.
With federal charges for those arrested on Tuesday, heavier sentencing is to be expected.
"If convicted of all charges, the defendants will face statutory maximum sentences ranging from 10 years in federal prison to life imprisonment," the DOJ wrote. "These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime."
[Related: California cargo theft horror stories]
