The man attempted to smuggle 150 kilograms of methamphetamine from the US to Australia
LOS ANGELES — A Canadian national was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release Sept. 26 for conspiring to export more than 150 kilograms of methamphetamine from the United States to Australia through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Alan Davood, 41, is a Canadian citizen and resident of the United States.
Davood, while in the United States legally on an investor visa and residing in Houston, Texas, used a scheme involving the concealment of large quantities of methamphetamine inside the cavities of items such as designer concrete coffee tables, commercial floor scrubbers and massage chairs. Davood then arranged for the export of the drug-laden merchandise by misrepresenting that legitimate companies were the shipping and receiving parties. The defendant used other sophisticated means — including the use of burner phones, aliases, cash payments, and communicating via encrypted messaging applications — to conceal his and other co-conspirators’ identities and unlawful activities. Following law enforcement’s search of his Houston apartment, Davood was arrested at the Houston International Airport as he prepared to board a one-way flight out of the country.
“With the assistance of its domestic and international partners, HSI is focused on disrupting Transnational Criminal Organizations use of legitimate trade to smuggle narcotics globally,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles Assistant Special Agent in Charge Dwayne Angebrandt. "The court’s verdict and sentencing in this case sends a clear message to those who seek to exploit legitimate commerce to make a quick buck trafficking in narcotics.”
This matter was investigated by HSI Los Angeles, Los Angeles Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) Maritime, HSI Toronto and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
The Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act was signed into law in December 2012. This law formally established the BEST program, with the primary mission of combating emerging and existing transnational organized crime by employing a threat-based/risk mitigation investigative task force model that recognizes the unique resources and capabilities of all participating law enforcement partners.
In fiscal year 2022, BESTs initiated more than 5,300 investigations resulting in more than 6,000 criminal arrests and seizures of more than 317,000 pounds of narcotics, more than 480,000 pounds of precursor chemicals, and more than $206 million of illicit proceeds and assets.
Anyone with information regarding the trafficking of illegal narcotics is encouraged to call the HSI Tip Line at 877-4-HSI-TIP.
Learn more about HSI’s mission to increase public safety in your community on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSILosAngeles.