Suspect allegedly moved millions in opium since ’01
DOWNTOWN LA — Defense attorneys have successfully requested to delay court proceedings against a Santa Monica man accused of heading an international opium ring which brought millions of dollars worth of drugs into Los Angeles, in order to have time to thoroughly review the evidence.
Attorneys representing Mehrdad Nejad Lari and four others arrested in May on charges related to the sale and distribution of opium were granted a request on June 14 by U.S. District Court Judge Audrey B. Collins to extend a pre-trial conference until July 25, on the grounds more time is needed to prepare a defense for a case authorities said has been building since 2001.
Lari, 47, was arrested at his home on the 300 block of 11th Street in Santa Monica on May 4 for possession with intent to distribute opium and is being detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been denied bail.
Authorities allege Lari bought and sold millions of dollars worth of drugs to various mid-level opium distributors throughout Los Angeles from 2001 to as recently as March, according to an affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case. Lari allegedly purchased opium from Gholam Hassan Nasseri-Jafar, who supplied the drug organization from his sources in Iran even after he was arrested in December of 2003 by the German State Police.
Opium is a primary component of heroin, both of which are derived from the opium poppy plant harvested mostly in Asia, authorities said.
Prosecuting U.S. Assistant Attorney Peter Hernandez said the July 25 pre-trial conference will be an opportunity for those involved in the case to discuss possible trial dates.
“There has not been much going on because the (evidence) has just been produced and counsel is trying to learn what the case is about,” Hernandez said.
Lari’s attorney, Donald M. Re, declined to comment.
Lari’s wife, Marjan Sarshar, 47, who also was arrested on May 4 for her alleged involvement, has since had the charges against her dropped, attorneys said.
Sarshar has previously said she and her husband are Santa Monica residents who have children.
Sarshar’s attorney, Mark Werksman, said he has been hired to help Sarshar retain her property, which he said the U.S. Attorney’s Office is attempting to confiscate.
“She has not been indicted, and they’re trying to take the property because they said it comes from Lari,” Werksman said. “We’re dealing with it in court.”
Hernandez has characterized the drug bust that led to Lari’s arrest as “huge.” Multiple criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court in May show that in December 2003, German State Police and the DEA in Frankfurt seized about 271 kilograms of opium — worth about $5.4 million — from a drug organization run by Nasseri-Jafar. Nasseri-Jafar and his associates were arrested, and further investigation uncovered an international drug ring, where the opium was obtained from Iran, passed through Germany and shipped to Los Angeles, according to the complaints.
The business cards of Lari and an employee were found in Nasseri-Jafar’s apartment in Dusseldorf, Germany, in October of 2002, when German police served a search warrant there, according to the affidavit.
Lari owns and operates a jewelry and design company called Mallery Design, located in the jewelry district in downtown LA. The affidavit alleges Lari used his business to sell opium, purify it from its raw form and launder the proceeds from its sale.
A Drug Enforcement Agency special agent had been investigating Lari and several individuals alleged to have been involved in the ring since 2003. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges the money laundering and opium distribution ring involved more than a dozen people, with Lari being described as the “boss of the bosses.”
The DEA and the FBI allege Lari and Ali Mojaddam distributed the opium received from Nasseri-Jafar in Germany, and wired the sale proceeds to various international locations. Additionally, Lari allegedly used the proceeds to acquire property and high-valued vehicles, as well as set up limited liability corporations and refinance real property and homes.
During the investigation in LA, authorities obtained telephone records, bank records, property loan records and other information relating to the organization, all of which led a special agent to believe Lari and Mojaddam allegedly continued to sell opium and launder money even after Nasseri-Jafar’s arrest, the affidavit said.
Confidential informants aided authorities in tracking the smuggling of drugs, which were carried into the United States in false-bottomed suitcases.
In total, 11 arrests were made by the DEA and the FBI. Also arrested for their alleged roles in the opium drug ring that stretched from Iran and Germany to Boston and Los Angeles, were Kamran Atarzadeh, 53, and Faramarz Bokhour, 55, both of Los Angeles. They were arrested for possession with the intent to distribute opium.
Individuals arrested for money laundering include Bijan Kohanzad, 43, of Brentwood; Houshyar Babelpour, 44, of Woodland Hills; Benham Azimi, 45, of Pasadena; Fariborz Ahl, 44, of Los Angeles; and Moussa Abadiah, 55, of Beverly Hills. All of the arrests were made in the Los Angeles area.
Mehdi Ilkani, 58, of Santa Monica, was arrested at his home in the Ocean Park neighborhood. Ilkani was arrested for money laundering and is considered by authorities as a mid-level opium distributor.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 24, 2005. Read the original PDF.