According to www.freightwaves.com, federal prosecutors in New York unsealed an indictment charging eight individuals in an alleged international cargo theft conspiracy that stole at least $10 million in commercial freight between March 2023 and the present.
Charges and arrests across multiple states
The defendants named in the indictment are Vagan Gulian, Zhirayr Gumruyan, Sevak Kocharian, Araik Setrakian, Vitaly Koshelan, Arkadiy Pastin, Jashanpreet Singh, and Edgar Bezhanian. Authorities arrested Gulian, Gumruyan, and Setrakian in California; Koshelan in Florida; Singh in Pennsylvania; and Pastin in New York. Kocharian was already in custody on a separate federal case. Prosecutors state that Bezhanian remains at large.
Kocharian also faces a separate federal charge of conspiracy to commit extortion, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. All eight defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Modus operandi: Impersonation and diversion
According to the indictment, the alleged operation relied on coordinated roles across two continents — with a dispatcher located abroad and facilitators, drivers, and warehouse workers operating inside the United States. Prosecutors allege members impersonated legitimate carriers and supply chain companies to obtain transportation contracts. They then diverted freight, altered delivery information, and removed cargo tracking devices before unloading and selling stolen goods.
The stolen merchandise included electronics, liquor, meat, fish, eggs, clothing, skincare products, and cryptocurrency mining machines. Some items were allegedly sold to buyers who knowingly purchased stolen property for resale — a detail cited in the indictment as evidence of organized resale networks.
Detailed thefts identified in court filing
The indictment specifies at least five distinct thefts tied to the conspiracy. One involved a whiskey shipment valued at more than $360,000, scheduled to move from Texas to New Jersey. Kocharian and Setrakian allegedly attempted to sell thousands of bottles below market value and discussed storing additional stolen freight in warehouses.
- A May 2025 shipment of skincare and hair care products worth more than $114,000, moving from Ohio to California, with Setrakian coordinating delivery instructions and Koshelan and Pastin transporting and unloading the cargo.
- An egg shipment of approximately 23,400 dozen, valued at about $51,000, traveling from Pennsylvania to Utah, where Bezhanian allegedly directed Pastin to retrieve the load from a warehouse before part was offered for sale.
- A clothing shipment valued at about $1.2 million stolen in July 2025, en route from North Carolina to Ohio.
- A liqueur shipment valued at about $300,000, also stolen in July 2025, traveling from New Jersey to Virginia.
Legal consequences and law enforcement response
If convicted on the primary conspiracy charge, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. United States Attorney Jay Clayton stated that organized cargo theft “threatens the integrity of the nation’s commercial supply chain.” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. emphasized that the defendants allegedly participated in an international network that stole merchandise and resold it for profit.
The investigation was led by federal authorities including the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The case underscores growing vulnerabilities in freight visibility and carrier vetting — particularly where digital tracking systems are physically disabled or bypassed during transit.
Source: FreightWaves
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
