Iranian national arrested at LAX in alleged U.S. sanctions-linked arms trafficking case

An Iranian national living quietly as a U.S. lawful permanent resident in a Los Angeles suburb was dramatically arrested Saturday night, April 18, 2026, at Los Angeles International Airport. Just as she prepared to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, on charges that she helped broker millions of dollars in Iranian-made weapons for Sudan’s raging civil war.

Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills, California, was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers during a secondary inspection. Agents seized her electronic devices, including mobile phones and digital storage media, which were later turned over to federal investigators for forensic review.

According to the federal criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Mafi faces charges of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA, 50 U.S.C. § 1705) and related violations of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. § 2778), along with general conspiracy statutes under 18 U.S.C. § 371. If convicted, she could spend up to 20 years in federal prison.

Federal prosecutors allege that Mafi, who was born in Iran and obtained her green card in 2016, served as a key intermediary in a shadowy international network. She allegedly helped funnel Iranian-origin military equipment, including advanced drones, bombs, fuses, and vast quantities of ammunition, to Sudan’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces as the African nation entered its fourth year of brutal civil conflict.

One of the largest alleged deals involved a contract worth more than €60–70 million (roughly $65–75 million) for 6–7 Mohajer-6 armed UAV drone systems, complete with bomb release units, ground control stations, guided bombs, and support equipment supplied by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). Sudanese representatives reportedly traveled to Iran for coordination and training, while payments routed through Mafi’s company topped $7 million in 2025 alone. Other transactions allegedly included hundreds of non-guided aerial bombs, 55,000 bomb fuses sourced from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), tens of thousands of AK-47 rifles, and millions to hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition.

All of these items fall under strict U.S. sanctions targeting Iran, MODAFL, and the IRGC, and authorities say Mafi and her co-conspirators never obtained the required export licenses from the State Department or Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Court documents describe how Mafi and at least one unnamed business partner operated through Atlas International Business LLC, a company registered in Oman in November 2022 in which she held a 50% stake. To conceal the Iranian origins of the goods and dodge sanctions, the group allegedly routed deals and payments through intermediaries in Turkey, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, using structured transactions, informal money-transfer networks, and instructions to delete sensitive communications after they were read.

Investigators recovered a trove of evidence, including WhatsApp messages, draft contracts, price lists, payment records, End User Certificates, and even photographs and videos showing crates of cash. Mafi had previously spoken with CBP and FBI agents roughly 10 times between 2021 and 2024, during which she reportedly acknowledged contacts with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and familiarity with Iranian sanctions-evasion techniques.

Described in media reports as a glamorous businesswoman who enjoyed an upscale lifestyle and frequent international travel, Mafi maintained her Woodland Hills residence while regularly visiting Iran, Turkey, Oman, and other countries.
The investigation, led by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI with support from Customs and Border Protection and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, grew out of routine interagency monitoring of suspicious financial and trade activity. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced the arrest publicly, underscoring the seriousness of brokering Iranian drones, bombs, fuses, and ammunition for Sudan.

Mafi is scheduled to make her initial court appearance Monday afternoon, April 20, 2026, in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. The complaint names known and unknown co-conspirators, and authorities say the probe remains active.