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FEDEX: GLOBAL SHIPPER BEING USED TO SHIP DRUGS FROM ARMENIA
Kristine Aghalaryan, Edik Baghdasaryan
http://hetq.am/en/criminal/fedex/
2010/05/31 | 15:18
Feature Stories criminal
Four individuals suspected of drug trafficking were arrested in
Glendale on March 10, 2009. Two were Armenian. 32 pounds of opium
were found in a package sent from Armenia to the home of 37 year-old
Glendale resident Razmik Alchyan. The package was sent via FedEx. The
drugs were concealed in pressure molds.
Also arrested with Alchyan were 27 year-old Lusineh Khachatryan
(Glendale), 37 y.o. Edmond Bolandi (Palmdale) and 37 y.o. Ali Nouri.
Lieutenant Bruce Fox, attached to the Special Investigations Bureau,
told Glendale News that the street value of the drugs was $500,000.
Law enforcement found that the package contained the drugs in Memphis.
Two FBI agents, disguised as mailmen delivered the package to the
address on the package. When two men left the house and attempted to
transport the package by car, they were immediately arrested.
During a search of the house, police discovered other packing
paraphernalia for metal molds and delivery receipts, which, according
to Lieutenant Fox, was additional proof that those arrested were
engaged in drug trafficking. It was the biggest drug bust in Glendale
police history.
The next day, March 11, another package containing drugs, this time
11 kilos of opium was found in a bus belonging to the "Sima-Safar"
passenger and freight company on the way to Armenia from Iran. The
drugs were hidden in similar specially made molds. This package was
also destined to be shipped to the United States via FedEx in Armenia.
It was an Iranian named Muhammad that had shipped the opium to Armenia
from Iran. He had contracted with FedEx in Armenia to send the pressure
molds to Europe and the U.S. The drugs were transported to Armenia
by drivers working for the Sima-Safar bus company. From Armenia,
the goods were divied up and sent to various individuals.
On the day of delivery, March 11, the RoA National Security Service
initiated criminal charges of organized drug trafficking and illegal
distribution and sale of hallucinogens. According to a statement we
received from the Chief Prosecutor's Office, Armenian law enforcement
arrested both the individual in whose name the package to the U.S. was
sent and the actual sender was to be.
According to findings of the preliminary investigation given us by the
Prosecutor's Office, 28 similar molds transported from Iran were sent
to Canada from Armenia, seven were sent to the U.S. and two to France.
These findings cannot yet state whether the sent items contained
drugs or not.
Corresponding inquiries have been dispatched to prosecutors of the
countries in question requesting additional information, including
the contents of the molds sent in the past and their final destination
points.
Replies have yet to be received, except in the case of the U.S.
According to the Glendale Prosecutor's Office, Razmik Alchyan has been
released. Four months ago, Hetq sent an e-mail to the Glendale Police
Department's Public Affairs Department requesting further information
as to why those arrested in the case had been released. We have not
received any answer to date.
Presently, the criminal case in Armenia has been put on "hold". Those
arrested have been released but the investigation continues.
We have not been supplied any details in the matter by Armenian law
enforcement who argue that such information is being withheld due to
the ongoing investigation.
"They have been released because the necessity of keeping tem in
custody no longer exists," replied the Chief Prosecutor's Press
Secretary. In the reply, they do not explain why the necessity to
detain these individuals in such a serious matter no loner exists.
Similar cases have been uncovered in FedEx branches around the world.
Criminal indictments have been handed down and people have gone to
jail. In almost all cases, FedEx employees have been found to have
been knowing accomplices.
From: A. Papazian
Kristine Aghalaryan, Edik Baghdasaryan
http://hetq.am/en/criminal/fedex/
2010/05/31 | 15:18
Feature Stories criminal
Four individuals suspected of drug trafficking were arrested in
Glendale on March 10, 2009. Two were Armenian. 32 pounds of opium
were found in a package sent from Armenia to the home of 37 year-old
Glendale resident Razmik Alchyan. The package was sent via FedEx. The
drugs were concealed in pressure molds.
Also arrested with Alchyan were 27 year-old Lusineh Khachatryan
(Glendale), 37 y.o. Edmond Bolandi (Palmdale) and 37 y.o. Ali Nouri.
Lieutenant Bruce Fox, attached to the Special Investigations Bureau,
told Glendale News that the street value of the drugs was $500,000.
Law enforcement found that the package contained the drugs in Memphis.
Two FBI agents, disguised as mailmen delivered the package to the
address on the package. When two men left the house and attempted to
transport the package by car, they were immediately arrested.
During a search of the house, police discovered other packing
paraphernalia for metal molds and delivery receipts, which, according
to Lieutenant Fox, was additional proof that those arrested were
engaged in drug trafficking. It was the biggest drug bust in Glendale
police history.
The next day, March 11, another package containing drugs, this time
11 kilos of opium was found in a bus belonging to the "Sima-Safar"
passenger and freight company on the way to Armenia from Iran. The
drugs were hidden in similar specially made molds. This package was
also destined to be shipped to the United States via FedEx in Armenia.
It was an Iranian named Muhammad that had shipped the opium to Armenia
from Iran. He had contracted with FedEx in Armenia to send the pressure
molds to Europe and the U.S. The drugs were transported to Armenia
by drivers working for the Sima-Safar bus company. From Armenia,
the goods were divied up and sent to various individuals.
On the day of delivery, March 11, the RoA National Security Service
initiated criminal charges of organized drug trafficking and illegal
distribution and sale of hallucinogens. According to a statement we
received from the Chief Prosecutor's Office, Armenian law enforcement
arrested both the individual in whose name the package to the U.S. was
sent and the actual sender was to be.
According to findings of the preliminary investigation given us by the
Prosecutor's Office, 28 similar molds transported from Iran were sent
to Canada from Armenia, seven were sent to the U.S. and two to France.
These findings cannot yet state whether the sent items contained
drugs or not.
Corresponding inquiries have been dispatched to prosecutors of the
countries in question requesting additional information, including
the contents of the molds sent in the past and their final destination
points.
Replies have yet to be received, except in the case of the U.S.
According to the Glendale Prosecutor's Office, Razmik Alchyan has been
released. Four months ago, Hetq sent an e-mail to the Glendale Police
Department's Public Affairs Department requesting further information
as to why those arrested in the case had been released. We have not
received any answer to date.
Presently, the criminal case in Armenia has been put on "hold". Those
arrested have been released but the investigation continues.
We have not been supplied any details in the matter by Armenian law
enforcement who argue that such information is being withheld due to
the ongoing investigation.
"They have been released because the necessity of keeping tem in
custody no longer exists," replied the Chief Prosecutor's Press
Secretary. In the reply, they do not explain why the necessity to
detain these individuals in such a serious matter no loner exists.
Similar cases have been uncovered in FedEx branches around the world.
Criminal indictments have been handed down and people have gone to
jail. In almost all cases, FedEx employees have been found to have
been knowing accomplices.
From: A. Papazian