Neighbors have raised alarms about a suspected arms dealer arrested at LAX, claiming he was frequently receiving unsavory visitors at his Los Angeles apartment complex.
Shamim Mafi, 44, is accused of conducting operations on behalf of the Iranian government from a townhouse in Woodland Hills that features two bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Residents noted that they seldom encountered her, yet observed various suspicious individuals coming and going, including one man dressed in high-end clothes who was spotted smoking on the balcony.
Mafi was taken into custody on Saturday night, facing charges related to arranging the sale of Iranian drones, bombs, and millions of rounds of ammunition intended for Sudan.
It is believed she maintained close connections with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, which allegedly supported her efforts with instructions and financing to establish a U.S. business.
Local residents Paul Hilson, 68, and his wife, Diane Maston, 66, witnessed the FBI’s raid on Mafi’s residence around 9 p.m. on Saturday.
“We decided to go for a walk, and there were about five or six unmarked and masked vehicles,” Hilson recounted. “They knocked on the door, announcing that they were the FBI with a search warrant. They took out a sealed black evidence box.”
The couple mentioned they had never formally met Mafi. Hilson observed, “There was definitely something suspicious happening there. It felt like a unit with odd activities.” He added, “People were visiting frequently, and it made me feel uneasy. Something felt off.”
“There was even a strange guy smoking on the balcony, despite the no-smoking rule. It was unsettling,” he noted.
Real estate sources indicated that Mafi does not own the property. A neighbor named Mark confirmed the authorities conducted a search but admitted they had only met Mafi once without engaging in conversation.
“He was decked out in a Gucci jacket and an expensive watch; he exuded a dangerous vibe, then he just disappeared,” Hilson said.
Maston also shared that she often heard odd mechanical noises at night from Mafi’s townhouse that would wake her up. “Just last week, I saw three women cleaning out the place. They were hosing down the garage and moving mattresses,” she said.
Mafi, who left Iran in 2013 and became a permanent U.S. resident in 2016 during the Obama administration, is alleged to have utilized an Omani-registered company, Atlas International Business, to facilitate arms transactions, with reports noting contracts that included a $70 million deal for Iranian-made Mohajar-6 armed drones.
These drones and 55,000 fuses were reportedly sent to Sudan’s Ministry of Defense, which has been embroiled in a civil war since 2023. Iran has faced accusations of breaching a United Nations arms embargo after these drones reportedly appeared with government forces during the conflict in Sudan.
