On May 20, federal agents and local law enforcement officials in California and Florida arrested 13 alleged members and associates of rival Armenian organized crime syndicates locked in a violent power struggle in Los Angeles County.
The defendants are charged in five federal complaints with serious crimes—including attempted murder, kidnapping, credit card fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, illegal firearm possession, and large-scale cargo theft targeting online retailers.
Members of the group allegedly posed as Amazon trucking contractors and stole more than $83 million in goods from the company as part of a broader scheme responsible for the theft of tens of millions of dollars in merchandise overall. Authorities also uncovered a credit card “bust-out” scam involving sham businesses used to defraud financial institutions. As part of the operation, law enforcement seized approximately $100,000 in cash, 14 firearms, and three armored vehicles during a raid in Sun Valley. One defendant remains at large.
If convicted of all charges, the suspects face statutory maximum sentences ranging from 10 years to life in federal prison. All crimes were allegedly committed to expand and maintain control in the San Fernando Valley.
The charges were announced by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, and the news was reported by CBS citing the U.S. Department of Justice.
Among those charged are the alleged leaders of the two factions: Ara Artuni, 41, of Porter Ranch, who is charged with attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and his rival, Robert Amiryan, 46, of Hollywood, who is charged with kidnapping. The years-long battle for territory allegedly resulted in multiple murder attempts and a kidnapping, according to the DOJ.
According to the complaints, Artuni and his criminal enterprise have allegedly committed a range of financial crimes since at least 2021. These include bank fraud, wire fraud, and a cargo theft operation in which members enrolled with Amazon as third-party carriers, contracted for legitimate trucking routes, and then, while transporting the goods, deliberately diverted from the assigned routes and stole all or part of the shipments. Amazon estimates that the Artuni Enterprise has stolen more than $83 million in merchandise to date.
The same group is also accused of orchestrating a credit card scam using sham businesses. They allegedly charged various credit cards through these fake entities and rapidly drained the associated business accounts before the credit card companies could recover the disputed funds, causing millions in losses to financial institutions.
Following several coordinated raids across Los Angeles County and South Florida, three other men allegedly involved in the scheme were taken into custody: Vahan Harutyunyan, 50, of Hollywood, Florida; Levon Arakelyan, 45, of Las Vegas; and Ivan Bojorquez, 33, of Gardena. Harutyunyan appeared earlier that day in Fort Lauderdale and was ordered detained, while Arakelyan and Bojorquez are currently being held in state custody on unrelated charges.
According to affidavits filed with the criminal complaints, Armenian Organized Crime—a Russian mafia-affiliated transnational criminal organization—has established Los Angeles County as a hub for its U.S. operations. Since 2022, two local leaders within the organization, known as avtoritet (Russian for “authority”), have allegedly been engaged in a violent power struggle for territorial control. Artuni, identified as an avtoritet, is charged with ordering the attempted murder of Amiryan in the summer of 2023. In retaliation, Amiryan—also described as an avtoritet—allegedly conspired with members of his faction to kidnap and torture one of Artuni’s associates in June 2023.
“Today’s arrests reflect that my office and our law enforcement partners are committed to keeping America safe by dismantling transnational criminal organizations,” said United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Let today’s enforcement action be a warning to criminals: Our communities are not your playground to engage in violence and thuggery.”
“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 HSI Los Angeles Acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge Dwayne Angebrandt. “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.”
“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.”
“Investigators from the Burbank Police Department spent hundreds of hours investigating these heinous violent crimes,” said Burbank Police Chief Rafael Quintero. “The Burbank Police Department is grateful for the assistance from its law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney’s Office for their work in holding these individuals accountable for their actions.”
The Los Angeles Police Department Major Crimes Division – Transnational Organized Crime Section; the Burbank Police Department; Homeland Security Investigation’s (HSI) Northridge and Ventura offices; the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); IRS Criminal Investigation; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Lyndsi Allsop and Kenneth R. Carbajal of the Violent and Organized Crime Section and Tara B. Vavere of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section are prosecuting this case. The Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section provided substantial assistance.
These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
A complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
