The FBI and SWAT carried out a large-scale operation in California and Florida: 13 people were detained, $100,000 in cash seized, along with armored vehicles and weapons.

The hub of the criminal enterprise was Los Angeles. Criminal figures Ara Artuni and Robert Amiryan were involved — and even launched a manhunt against each other: assassination attempts, kidnappings with torture, and theft of Amazon cargo worth $83 million!

The syndicate operated through shell companies, hijacked trucks, and emptied bank accounts — all under the protection of the Russian mafia.

From the article I found the following incident as pretty interesting, showing the connection between criminal figures from the former Soviet Union who operating in the US and their connection back home to the elite of the Criminal World the Thieves in Law (Vor V Zakone).

Amiryan then appears to have taken his grievances and his evicence to the so-called thieves-in-law, the most senior leaders of the Armenian Mafia back in the former Soviet republic.

Artuni, according to the criminal complaint, visited the Armenian capital Yerevan in April 2024 to meet with the "thieves in law." When he's photographed soon after entering Dubai, he appears to have sustained several injuries and bruises.

"I believe that while abroad, Artuni may have been 'reprimanded' or 'regulated,' that is punished by a more senior member of Armenian Organized Crime or the Russian Mafia," according to the Homeland Security agent.

The Amazon cargo theft was purportedly conducted by members of Artuni's organization.

According to the criminal complaint, they set up bogus trucking businesses to contract with Amazon for transportation of merchandise to Amazon's warehouses. However, once they have picked up the shipments, they would offload a good chunk of the cargo before they delivered the remainder at the destination facility.

Members of Artuni's organization were involved in 33 transports in which $83,579,010.99 went missing, according to a 2024 Amazon law enforcement referral report cited in the criminal complaint.

Artuni's organization is also accused of running a “credit card bust-out” scheme where they drained the credit card business accounts of sham business before credit card companies could dispute or collect the funds."


Link to the article