Inside the Bloody Feud Between L.A.’s Rival Armenian Mob Factions
Rival Armenian underworld crime lords have used murder, kidnapping, and gunplay to “expand and maintain their control” of the San Fernando Valley, prosecutors say, as they announce more than a dozen arrests that include two “thieves in law,” or bosses
MICHELE MCPHEE
LA MAGAZINE
A violent feud between Armenian underworld factions for control over criminal enterprises in the San Fernando Valley has led to murder, kidnapping, and targeted heists, federal prosecutors said this week as they announced more than a dozen arrests that include two reputed bosses, or “avtoritet,” in Los Angeles who have been engaged in a bloody battle for power.
The targets rounded up Tuesday in a series of heavily-armed raids by ICE agents in Florida and Southern California are charged in five federal complaints with a series of crimes, including attempted murder, kidnapping, illegal firearm possession and thefts estimated to be in millions of dollars related to online retailer shipments. Law enforcement officials seized approximately $100,000 in cash, three armored vehicles, and 14 firearms during the action-movie style operation.
Two reputed underworld bosses, or avtoritet, which loosely translates to “thief in law,” prosecutors say, were arrested in the coordinated sweeps. One, Ara Artuni, 41, of Porter Ranch, California is now charged with attempted murder in aid of racketeering. His arch rival, Robert Amiryan, 46, of Hollywood, California, was also captured and charged with kidnapping after a sweeping investigation codenamed “Supper’s Ready” by federal officials.
Since 2022, the two local leaders within the organization, also known as avtoritet, which in Russian means “authority,” allegedly have engaged in a power struggle for control in their territory, which, federal prosecutor say, have turned the Valley into a war zone resulting in “multiple murder attempts and a kidnapping.”
Artuni, an avtoritet, better known in underworld circles by his moniker “Rubo Fish,” is charged with ordering the attempted murder of Amiryan during the summer of 2023. In retaliation, Amiryan, also an avtoritet whose nickname is “Aro,” allegedly conspired with members of his own criminal organization to kidnap and torture one of Artuni’s associates in June 2023.
“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,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge Dwayne Angebrandt.
According to affidavits filed with the criminal complaints, “Armenian Organized Crime, a Russian mafia-affiliated transnational criminal organization, has made Los Angeles County a center of U.S. operations,” agents wrote.
Court records indicate that Artuni’s Enterprise, as prosecutors reference it, has gotten the upper hand by allegedly ripping off Amazon for $83 million in an elaborate scheme during which his crew “enrolled with Amazon as carriers, contracted for trucking routes, and then, while transporting the goods, diverged from the route and stole all or part of the shipment,” prosecutors say.
The Artuni Enterprise also ran a “credit card bust-out” scheme in which they charged various credit cards to a sham business, then drained the business account before the credit card companies could collect the to-be disputed funds. Strangely, prosecutors note, Artuni is a “self-reported Iranian citizenship but suspectedly, was actually Armenian who commanded over a small army and an actual armory in the Valley.”
On the other side, Amirya, who was “the target in multiple shooting incidents,” prosecutors say, allegedly kidnapped and tortured a soldier for Artuni and was “present at the scene,” which is an indicator of “his importance in the community, and his willingness to commit violent crimes to benefit and protect his standing and the standing of the Amiryan Organized Crime Group.”
Los Angeles is home to the largest diaspora of Armenian immigrants in the country, making the city a natural refuge for a small criminal faction. The FBI says gaining power and leadership in Armenian Organized Crime takes a combination of respect, seniority, and a birth certificate “either in Armenia or a former Soviet country.” Unlike a “gogh,” which is a crime boss, or made man sanctioned by Russian Mafia figures, an avtoritet is viewed as a man of respect in the Armenian community while also operating independently from Russian overlords, according to court records.
“In Los Angeles County, avtoritet commonly operated independently and led their own organized crime groups thereby wielding an incredible amount of power over Armenian criminal organizations, including Armenian Organized Crime, the Armenian criminal street gang Armenian Power, and non-member Armenians who committed crimes,” federal prosecutors say.
In the 234-page indictment unsealed this week – filled with details of terrifying home invasions during which victims were shot dead as they slept, inhuman acts of torture, and drive-by assassination attempts – details also emerged of the labyrinthine white collar crimes the Armenian mob is infamous for. Sometimes they even used members of the Mexican Mafia to carry out specific hits, according to the indictment and flew drones over the homes of targets in the minutes before shots rang out.
In one brazen attack Burbank police followed a blood trail from a gang member covered in 13 tattoos to a bedroom where the wife of a purported Armenian mobster was wrapped in a blanket, bleeding. When an officer asked who shot her she responded, “I can’t talk.”
A kidnapping victim who was brutally beaten was also uncooperative with police who tracked him to a North Hollywood home using his cell phone location. He insisted that his attackers were “innocent” and that “God” was in charge of his fate. He lived, but his kidnapping is now among the dozens of violent incidents listed in the indictment.
After years of gathering intelligence in Operation Supper’s Ready, federal authorities began the takedown on Tuesday with multiple agencies, including the Los Angeles and Burbank Police departments. “Our commitment to public safety is strengthened through collaboration,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. “By working hand-in-hand with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, we are united in our mission to identify, apprehend, and bring violent criminals to justice. Together, we are sending a clear message: violence will not be tolerated in our communities.”
His police chief counterpart in Burbank, Rafael Quintero, said his cops put “hundreds of hour,” in the case. And this week’s arrests, United States Attorney Bill Essayli, who oversees California’s Central District said, should put organized crime members on notice. “Let today’s enforcement action be a warning to criminals: Our communities are not your playground to engage in violence and thuggery.”
