13 ‘Armenian Mafia’ members arrested accused of murder, $83 million Amazon cargo theft

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Federal prosecutors in LA accuse rival Armenian organized crime groups operating out of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley of murder, kidnapping and stealing more than $83 million in Amazon.com shipments.

Prosecutors charged members of the so-called Armenian Mafia with murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and torture as part of a turf war, as well as of credit card and health care fraud.

Thirteen members and associates of the two groups were arrested, according to an announcement by the U.S. attorney’s office in LA.

“Today’s arrests reflect that my office and our law enforcement partners are committed to keeping America safe by dismantling transnational criminal organizations,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. “Let today’s enforcement action be a warning to criminals: Our communities are not your playground to engage in violence and thuggery.”

The rival factions centered around Robert Amiryan, 46, and Ara Artuni, 41, both so-called avtoritet, or authorities, who wield power in the Armenian criminal underworld through their each of their own criminal organizations.

“Amiryan is considered one of the most prominent Armenian organized crime figures in Los Angeles County, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations wrote in an affidavit. “As such, Artuni, who has been seeking to advance his position in the Armenian criminal community, with the backing of the Mexican Mafia, has targeted Amiryan and those close to him in order to attempt to assume Amiryan’s position within the Armenian organized crime world.”

The Armenian Mafia originated in the former Soviet Union and is considered an offshoot of the Russian Mafia, according to the government. In the U.S., most Armenian Mafia leaders, members, and associates reside in LA County, which has one of the largest Armenian populations outside of Russia and Armenia.

The organization purportedly often relies on Black and Hispanic street gangs, such as those affiliated with the Mexican Mafia prison gang, to do their dirty work.

For instance, Artuni’s organization is accused of being behind a 2020 murder in Burbank, California, in which an Armenian man was shot in his home by a Hispanic gang member who himself was fatally wounded during the crime.

Artuni is also linked to the attempted murders of Amiryan and members of his group. In retaliation, according to prosecutors, Amiryan two years ago kidnapped and tortured one of Artuni’s associates to find out who had ordered the hit attempts.

Los Angeles police were able to trace the kidnapping victim to a house where they detained several purported members of Amiryan’s organization. While clearing the residence, officers saw blood splatter throughout the house, body armor, bullet holes in two walls that were filled with fresh blood splatter, and a Dodge Caravan in the garage with a substantial amount of blood that was in the process of being cleaned.

The victim, prosecutors say, identified members of Amiryan’s group but denied to police that he had been tortured notwithstanding mobile phone videos that shows him being assaulted at the residence and interrogated in Armenian. In those videos, the bloodied victim names Artuni.

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.

The defendants face statutory maximum sentences ranging from 10 years in federal prison to life imprisonment if convicted of all charges.