Grimy Times has learned that a notorious Iranian heroin trafficker has been arrested and brought to justice in Manhattan federal court. Malek Mohammad Balouchzehi, a 38-year-old citizen of Iran, was taken into custody by Kenyan authorities and expelled to the United States on October 9, 2021.
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint charging the defendant, Balouchzehi is an Iran-based drug trafficker who distributes methamphetamine and manufactures and distributes heroin. In or about September 2019, Balouchzehi and his associate began communicating and meeting with individuals whom Balouchzehi believed were heroin traffickers interested in large quantities of heroin for importation into the United States, as well as methamphetamine for distribution in Australia.
Those individuals were, in fact, a confidential source working at the DEA’s direction, and an undercover DEA agent posing as a New York-based heroin distributor. In December 2019, Balouchzehi caused a sample of approximately two kilograms of heroin to be delivered in Mozambique, with the understanding that those drugs would be transported to the United States for testing and sale. Following this sample shipment, Balouchzehi planned to supply larger quantities of heroin for importation to and distribution within the United States, and in December 2019, Balouchzehi discussed providing as many as 400 kilograms of heroin for importation to the United States in the next transaction.
Balouchzehi is charged with one count of conspiring to import heroin into the United States and one count of distributing heroin intending that the narcotics would be imported into the United States. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams praised the outstanding investigative efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit and New York Field Division; the DEA’s Nairobi, Maputo, Pretoria, Bucharest, and Jakarta Country Offices; the Kenyan National Police, Directorate of Criminal Investigations; the Mozambique National Criminal Investigation Services; and the Western Australia Police Force. Williams also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for its assistance.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Territorial Jurisdiction Unit.
Balouchzehi was presented before United States Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn earlier today.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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