US government prosecutors said on Sunday an Iranian national was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport for allegedly transporting weapons to Sudan on behalf of Tehran.
Shamim Mafi, 44, is accused of “selling drones, bombs, bomb fuses and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran to Sudan,” US Attorney Bill Essayli wrote in a social media post.
A resident of the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, Mafi “is an Iranian citizen who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2016”, the prosecutor said.
Mafi was arrested on Saturday and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.
The post was accompanied by photos of a suspected Mafi woman surrounded by federal agents at an airport, a large drone on the tarmac, a photo of a woman’s ID and wads of cash.
