Unique | Neighbors blow the lid on Iranian arms seller’s shady LA lair — and the regular stream of late-night arrivals

An accused arms seller who was arrested at LAX had a stream of suspicious-looking males out and in of her Los Angeles apartment, neighbors have claimed.

Shamim Mafi, 44, was allegedly working on behalf of the Iranian regime out of a two-bed, three-bathroom townhouse in Woodland Hills.

Neighbors say they barely noticed her however noticed a number of shady males visiting, with one who had ultra-luxe clothes seen smoking on her balcony.

Mafi was arrested on Saturday evening and charged with brokering offers for Iranian drones, bombs, and thousands and thousands of rounds of ammunition certain for Sudan.

She allegedly performed the offers whereas in shut contact with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Safety, which offered instruction and funds for her to open a enterprise within the US to function out of.

Mafi’s LA neighbors Paul Hillson, 68, and spouse Diane Maston, 66, have been residence on Saturday when the FBI raided Mafi’s residence at 9pm.

“We went for a stroll and there have been about 5 or 6 undercover and unmarked vehicles,’ Hillson advised the Submit.

“They knocked on the door and yelled ‘FBI, we’ve a search warrant.’ They eliminated black sealed bins of proof.’

The couple mentioned they by no means noticed Mafi.  Hillson added: “There was additionally types of suspicious s*** occurring at that place. It’s at all times been a unit the place there was bizarre exercise.

“There’d be intermittent guests coming by, folks choosing stuff up. There was a man who stayed there and you possibly can really feel the hazard. One thing wasn’t proper.

“There was one other unusual man who would smoke on the balcony though smoking isn’t allowed. He was very scary.

“He was carrying a Gucci jacket and an costly watch. He had a harmful vibe. After which he was gone.

“There was all these guests who would come purchase and decide stuff up after which we’d not appear them once more.”

Maston advised the Submit they might hear a “peculiar noise” coming from Mafi’s residence in the course of the evening “like a machine” that will wake her up.

She added: “Three ladies have been there every week in the past clearing stuff out. They have been hosing down the storage and there was some mattresses in there.”

An actual property supply advised the Submit the property wasn’t owned by Mafi. Subsequent door neighbor Mark confirmed the Feds raided Mafi’s residence. He mentioned he’d solely seen her one time prior to now however they hadn’t spoke.

Safety guard Amir Abolghasemi, 60, initially from Tehran, mentioned Mafi waved at him prior to now when she was by her storage.

The 60-year-old, advised the Submit: “The Iranian authorities is loopy. That’s why we’re right here.” He mentioned individuals who assist the regime “work for cash… only for cash. They’re terrorists.”

Mafi, who left Iran in 2013 and have become a everlasting resident of the US in 2016 below the Obama administration, allegedly used an Oman-registered firm, Atlas Worldwide Enterprise, to dealer weapons offers as not too long ago as 2025, in response to court docket data.

Among the many gross sales was a contract for greater than $70 million for Iranian-made Mohajer-6 armed drones from Iran’s Ministry of Protection and Armed Forces Logistics.

The drones, together with 55,000 bomb fuses, have been transferred in offers with the Sudanese Ministry of Protection, which has been preventing in a bloody civil conflict since 2023.

Iran has been repeatedly accused of violating a United Nations arms embargo amid the Sudanese civil conflict, with its drones noticed in use by the federal government forces.

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