“Socalj” for Borderland Beat
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Ryan, whose criminal history ranges from firearms trafficking charges to international drug trafficking, has ties to several criminal elements in Canada, the United States, and Greece. He is a full-patch member of the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle club, based in the BC area.
Ryan was the target of a wild 2015 murder attempt at the Vancouver Airport’s food court, carried out by a teen disguised in a black burka. Would-be killer Knowah Ferguson was from Ontario, had no previous criminal record, and was promised $200,000 for the hit.
He planned to shoot Ryan in the food court as the target sat next to a member of the United Nations gang, who had arranged the hit on Ryan. He has not been identified. Ferguson lifted the gun to the back of Ryan’s head and the UN member leans away, but nothing fired. Ryan can be seen swinging his right arm up behind his head to swat the gun away.
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| Adam Richard Pearson had fled Canada and was living in Minnesota under an assumed identity. |
Pearson pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a man in Alberta and was sentenced last year to 8 years in prison. Zindashti currently resides in Iran.
Double Murder Plot in Maryland
As alleged in the indictment, between December 2020 and January 2021, Zindashti and Ryan communicated about “jobs,” “equipment,” “tools” and plans to “make some money.” In January 2021, they discussed a job in the United States, with Ryan noting that doing a job in the United States was challenging, but that he “might have someone to do it.” That same day he messaged Pearson about a “job” in Maryland.
Pearson stated, “Shooting is probably the easiest thing for them,” and that he was “on it.” Ryan recommended, “2 guys go with proper equipment.” Pearson said he would encourage the recruits for the job to “shoot [the victim] in the head a lot [to] make an example” and that he would tell them “We gotta erase his head from his torso.”
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On or about Jan. 30, 2021, Zindashti messaged Ryan on SkyECC seeking an update on the job.
Ryan responded that he was getting “things in order” and would need money. A few days later, Zindashti told Ryan that Zindashti’s organization was ready to move forward.
Zindashti and Ryan then agreed on a $350,000 payment for the “job,” in addition to $20,000 to cover expenses.
After Zindashti introduced Ryan to Co-Conspirator 1, Ryan responded: “We have a 4-man team ready.”
Over the days that followed, Ryan and Co-Conspirator 1 continued to correspond on SkyECC about the plot. Specifically, Co-Conspirator 1 sent Ryan information about the would-be victims, including their photographs and images of a map that highlighted the victims’ known addresses.
In or around March 8, 2021, Co-Conspirator 1 facilitated a $20,000 payment to Ryan to cover travel expenses associated with the plot.
All three of the defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
Pearson is also charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a fugitive from justice and one count of possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the United States. He was living illegally in Minnesota at the time.
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Zindashti Drug Cartel
In 2023, The Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) made a criminal Iran’s leading drug lord, Iran International revealed. Information obtained by Iran International showed how Naji Sharifi-Zindashti and his cartel now dominated the narcotics trade thanks to the support of the government militia.
His rise comes despite having killed a prison guard in Iran and fleeing abroad, only to return with impunity.
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Sharifi-Zindashti and his accomplices, dubbed “The Friends’ Club” have used the IRGC’s vast reach and control over transit routes and logistics to gain the upper hand in Iran’s drug market, according to sources.
The Club comprises senior IRGC officials and high-ranking members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council as well as managers from Tehran Municipality and members of parliament.
The narcotics that are confiscated and destroyed as part of the Islamic Republic’s regular war on drugs mostly belong to rival gangs.
Iranian police arrested Zindashti in 1996 for a drug deal. Sentenced to death on drug-related charges, Zindashti along with an accomplice killed a guard during transfer to the court to testify in another case. Zindashti fled to Turkey, where he established a drug and human trafficking cartel.
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| That same year, his 21-year-old daughter was shot to death in her SUV in Istanbul, Turkey. |
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OFAC Designations
Iran-based narco-trafficker Zindashti and his network are intertwined with Iran’s transnational repression efforts to silence and intimidate dissidents, former insiders, and other perceived opponents by carrying out assassinations and kidnappings under the direction of the MOIS across multiple continents. Iranian security forces protect Zindashti and his criminal empire, enabling Zindashti to thrive in the country’s drug market and live a life of luxury while his network exports the regime’s repression, carrying out heinous operations on the government’s behalf.
Zindashti’s network has been linked to murders in several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Canada, and Türkiye.
Iranian Assassination Network
Chaab was then smuggled into Iran where he was imprisoned, tortured, forced to confess under duress, and ultimately convicted of “corruption on earth” following a trial that lacked fair-trial guarantees. Iranian authorities executed Chaab in May 2023.
In 2019, the MOIS used Zindashti and his men to assassinate former Iranian cybersecurity official turned regime critic Mas’ud Vardanjani (Vardanjani) in Istanbul.
“To those in Iran who plot murders on U.S. soil and the criminal actors who work with them, let today’s charges send a clear message: the Department of Justice will pursue you as long as it takes – and wherever you are – and deliver justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
“Today’s charges show a pattern of Iranian groups trying to murder U.S. residents on U.S. soil,” said Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “Mr. Zindashti and his accomplices’ alleged plot is reprehensible, and the FBI will not tolerate such acts against U.S. residents, and we will continue to pursue these individuals until they are brought to the U.S. to face justice.”