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Opioid Crisis

Iranian arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle hundreds of kilos of heroin into US

He allegedly sent a video of his drug manufacturing facility to a confidential source for the DEA

Paul Best By Paul Best Fox News
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Raw video: Woman brings her two-year-old grandson with her to buy heroin Video

Raw video: Woman brings her two-year-old grandson with her to buy heroin

In this raw bodycam footage, a woman is seen being arrested after buying heroin in the company of an infant.

An Iranian man was arrested in Kenya last week after he allegedly conspired to smuggle up to 400 kilograms of heroin into the United States, the Drug Enforcement Agency announced Wednesday. 

Malek Mohammad Balouchzehi, 38, was extradited to the United States on Oct. 9 and appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn on Tuesday. He is facing one count of conspiring to import heroin into the U.S. and one count of distributing heroin for importation into the U.S. 

"From thousands of miles away, Malek Balouchzehi allegedly arranged the importation of massive quantities of heroin into the United States with seemingly little regard for the devastation that highly addictive opiates cause after landing at our shores," U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement Wednesday. 

PARENTS WHO LOST CHILDREN TO FENTANYL POISONING SOUND ALARM ABOUT COUNTERFEIT PILLS

Balouchzehi allegedly started orchestrating his plan in October 2019, meeting with individuals to smuggle methamphetamine into Australia and heroin into the U.S. 

  • An addict prepares heroin, placing a fentanyl test strip into the mixing container to check for contamination, Wednesday Aug. 22, 2018, in New York. If the strip registers a "pinkish" to red marker then the heroin is positive for contaminants. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
    Image 1 of 2

    An addict prepares heroin, placing a fentanyl test strip into the mixing container to check for contamination. (Associated Press)

  • ST. JOHNSBURY, VT - FEBRUARY 06: Drugs are prepared to shoot intravenously by a user addicted to heroin on February 6, 2014 in St. Johnsbury Vermont. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin recently devoted his entire State of the State speech to the scourge of heroin. Heroin and other opiates have begun to devastate many communities in the Northeast and Midwest leading to a surge in fatal overdoses in a number of states. As prescription painkillers, such as the synthetic opiate OxyContin, become increasingly expensive and regulated, more and more Americans are turning to heroin to fight pain or to get high. Heroin, which has experienced a surge in production in places such as Afghanistan and parts of Central America, has a relatively inexpensive street price and provides a more powerful affect on the user. New York City police are currently investigating the death of the actor Philip Seymour Hoffman who was found dead last Sunday with a needle in his arm. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
    Image 2 of 2

    Drugs are prepared to shoot intravenously by a user addicted to heroin in 2014 in St. Johnsbury, Vt. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Instead of drug traffickers, Balouchzehi was actually meeting with an undercover DEA agent and a confidential source working for the DEA, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court Tuesday. 

Balouchzehi allegedly sent the DEA's confidential source videos of a narcotics manufacturing facility in October 2019. 

"We have white. We have brown. We have crystal, shisha. Whatever you want," Balouchzehi allegedly told the confidential source in a phone call. 

About 28% of all overdose deaths from opioids involved heroin in 2019.  (CDC)

In December 2019, the DEA wired $16,000 to a bank account in Indonesia controlled by Balouchzehi in exchange for two kilograms of heroin. 

After the two-kilogram sample, Balouchzehi discussed sending as much as 400 kilograms of heroin to the United States, according to the DEA. 

Balouchzehi could be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison or a maximum of life in prison if convicted on either of the two counts he is facing.

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The opioid crisis has exploded in recent decades, with overdose deaths from opioids increasing sixfold since 1999 to nearly 50,000 in 2019. 

About 28% of all overdose deaths from opioids involved heroin in 2019, while the most recent wave of the crisis has been driven by the synthetic opioid fentanyl. 

Paul Best is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to Paul.Best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest.