Federal prosecutors arrested a 44-year-old Los Angeles woman named Shamim Mafi at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night. Mafi is an Iranian national who has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States since 2016. She now faces serious charges related to the illegal movement of military-grade weapons.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced the arrest on X, sharing a photo of an FBI agent escorting a woman into a car outside an airport terminal. According to authorities, Mafi is suspected of brokering the sale of “drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition” between Iran and the Sudanese Armed Forces, reports AP News.
A criminal complaint dated March 12 says that Mafi and an unnamed co-conspirator ran a company in Oman called Atlas International Business, which was used to traffic weapons and ammunition. Records show the company received over $7 million in payments throughout 2025. Court documents also detail the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses to the Sudanese Ministry of Defense.
The arrest is part of a larger picture of suspected Iranian operations on US soil
The complaint states directly, “In connection with the transaction, Mafi submitted a letter of intent to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (‘IRGC’) to purchase the bomb fuses for Sudan.” Mafi is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Monday. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison. As of Sunday, it is unknown whether she has secured legal representation.
The timing of the arrest is notable given wider concerns about Iranian activity abroad. According to ABC News, a federal alert was sent to law enforcement agencies on March 9, 2026, said the U.S. had intercepted encrypted communications believed to be of Iranian origin. The alert identified the transmission as a potential “operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” stationed outside of Iran.
It noted that the message was sent across multiple countries shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack, reports. The case also comes at a time when the FBI is facing intense internal scrutiny over its leadership and operations. The intercepted communications were encoded and appeared to be meant for “clandestine recipients” who hold the specific encryption keys needed to read them.
Officials said this method is designed to bypass standard internet or cellular networks, making it a tool used to pass instructions to covert operatives. The alert explained that the transmissions could “be intended to activate or provide instructions to prepositioned sleeper assets operating outside the originating country.”
While the government stated there was “no operational threat tied to a specific location,” the sudden appearance of this radio-frequency activity led authorities to call for heightened awareness. The alert noted that “the sudden appearance of a new station with international rebroadcast characteristics warrants heightened situational awareness.” Federal authorities are already on high alert over potential Iranian influence and operations inside the United States.
The case against Mafi arrives at a time when the $7 million arms scheme and the broader intercepted communications suggest a wide-reaching effort to supply allies in active conflict zones. The fact that Mafi lived quietly in Los Angeles for years while allegedly running a company in Oman that sent weapons to Sudan shows how difficult it is to track these kinds of global networks.
This arrest also raises questions about how the FBI handles politically sensitive national security cases at a time when the bureau itself is under the spotlight. As the legal process moves forward in Los Angeles, the case is expected to shed more light on how these supply chains work and whether there are further connections to the broader concerns. For now, the focus remains on Mafi’s upcoming court appearance and the charges filed against her.
Published: Apr 20, 2026 09:00 am