SM man dubbed as ‘boss of bosses’ in international ring
DOWNTOWN LA — Authorities on Wednesday arrested a Santa Monica man who they say was the head boss of an international opium ring which brought millions of dollars worth of drugs to Los Angeles.
Mehrdad Lari, 47, was arrested at his home on the 300 block of 11th Street shortly after 6 a.m. for possession with intent to distribute opium. His wife, Marjan Sarshar, 47, of Santa Monica, was also arrested at their home, located between San Vicente Boulevard and Georgina Avenue, for loan fraud. Mehdi Ilkani, 58, of Santa Monica, was arrested on Bentley Street in the Ocean Park neighborhood. Ilkani was booked on money laundering charges and is considered by authorities to be a mid-level opium distributor.
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 with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Lari allegedly purchased opium from Gholam Hassan Nasseri- Jafar, who supplied the drug organization even after he was arrested in December of 2003 by the German State Police, according to the affidavit.
A DEA special agent had been investigating Lari and several individuals involved in the ring since 2003. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, allege the money laundering and opium distribution ring involved more than a dozen people, with Lari being described as the “boss of the bosses.”
Also arrested on Wednesday for possession with intent to distribute opium was Lari’s employee Ali Mojaddam, 32, of Los Angeles. 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.
The DEA and the FBI allege Lari and Mojaddam distributed the opium received from Nasseri-Jafar in Germany, and wired the sale proceeds to various international locations. Additionally, Lari used the proceeds to acquire property and high-valued vehicles, as well as set up limited liability corporations and refinance real property and homes.
The defendants are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. They appeared in U.S. District Court, Central District of California on Wednesday. They will make a plea once they have been indicted, according to U.S. Assistant Attorney Peter Hernandez.
Multiple criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court on Monday and Tuesday indicate 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.
Lari’s and Mojaddam’s business cards from Mallery Design 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.
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 continued to allegedly 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.
“Prior to and immediately after the opium had been smuggled and delivered to Lari and Mojaddam, Lari’s bank accounts would receive large amounts of cash and checks from individuals who were purchasing opium from Lari...,” the affidavit states. “Lari and Mojaddam were involved in obtaining cash and check proceeds from the sales of opium... and subsequently structuring deposits and conducting wire transfers into Nasseri-Jafar’s bank accounts to pay him for quantities of imported opium.”
In total, 11 arrests were made by the DEA and the FBI. However, one suspect remained at large as of Wednesday afternoon, said DEA spokesman Jose Martinez. Also arrested on Wednesday 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 conducted in the Los Angeles area.
On April 2002, an opium transaction occurred at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, according to the affidavit. A confidential informant traveled from Germany to Santa Monica with two of Nasseri-Jafar’s employees. The three of them transported 11 suitcases, each containing four kilograms of opium. Once at the hotel, four suitcases were delivered to Mojaddam in the lobby. The informant said stacks of money were piled on top of Nasseri-Jafar’s table in his hotel room — estimated to be about $100,000, according to the affidavit.
Through surveillance, the DEA special agent tracked at least 10 transactions and deliveries that involved either Lari or Mojaddam between April 2002 and January of 2005, according to the affidavit.
The IRS, the Glendale Police Department and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office assisted the DEA and FBI in the arrests.
In addition to the arrests, search warrants related to the investigation were executed at 13 locations in the Los Angeles area, including Lari’s 11th Street home.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 28, 2005. Read the original PDF.