Hussein Karimi Rikabadi ran an international drug conglomerate suspected of distributing heroin in the Middle East, Western Europe and North America," said DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart. "His organization moved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of heroin from Pakistan and Afghanistan through Iran and Turkey. Now this globetrotter's journeys have taken a detour to a courtroom in the Southern District of New York where he will face American justice."
According to the Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court: Since 1998, KARIMI led an international heroin trafficking organization (the "Rikabadi Organization") responsible for the worldwide distribution of thousands of kilograms of Southwest Asian heroin. The Rikabadi Organization purchased heroin from suppliers in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and arranged for the heroin to be transported through various countries including Iran and Turkey. The Rikabadi Organization’s heroin was imported into the United States, Canada, and Western European countries and sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. KARIMI controlled the heroin-trafficking activities of his organization from locations in Romania. KARIMI was arrested in March 2007 while attempting to cross from Austria to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
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