In a series of coordinated raids in the Los Angeles area and Florida, 13 purported members and associates of Armenian crime syndicates were arrested Tuesday on federal charges including murder and kidnapping in connection with efforts to expand their criminal enterprises in the San Fernando Valley.
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The defendants were charged in five federal criminal complaints, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. One defendant remains at large. Prosecutors said the raids carried out Tuesday morning also led to the seizure of about $100,000 in cash, three armored vehicles, and 14 firearms.
"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," Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles Acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge Dwayne Angebrandt said in a statement. "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."
Among the defendants charged were Ara Artuni, 41, of Porter Ranch, who was charged with attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and Robert Amiryan, 46, of Hollywood, who was charged with kidnapping, according ot the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to prosecutors, the operations targeted Armenian Organized Crime, a Russian mafia-affiliated criminal organization that uses the Los Angeles area as its base of U.S. operations. Prosecutors said two of the organization's local leaders -- Artuni and Amiryan -- have been engaged in a violent power struggle for territorial control, leading to multiple attempted murders and a kidnapping.
Artuni allegedly ordered the attempted murder of Amiryan in summer 2023, while Amiryan allegedly conspired with associates to kidnap and torture one of Artuni's associates in June 2023.
Artuni and members of his enterprise also allegedly engaged in crimes such as bank fraud, wire fraud and "cargo theft," targeting online retailers such as Amazon -- with Artuni associates becoming shipping contractors for the company and stealing shipments of deliveries totaling more than $83 million.
Prosecutors said the defendants face prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison.
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