Auto dealer tagged as major drug ring player

Lolita Harper

A luxury car dealership owner whose arrest on suspicion of

conspiracy Wednesday caused a circus at his Harbor Boulevard business

was a key player in a major Riverside drug ring, federal drug

enforcement officials said Thursday.

Nader Amirvand, the owner of Auto Market of Orange County, helped

launder drug money for a five-lab methamphetamine ring based in of

San Bernardino and Riverside counties, said Jose Martinez, a special

agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Martinez said Amirvand sold his extravagant inventory, which

included Lamborghinis and Ferraris, to known drug lords and then

falsified their identities on state-required paperwork or would

neglect to submit the proper reports. Drug lords would wash their

dirty money by spending large amounts of it in one place, such as

buying a $300,000 Lamborghini from the dealership, Martinez said.

“This is an essential part of the operation,” Martinez said. “If

you can’t move your money, you can’t invest it. You must convert your

money to at least have the appearance of legitimacy.”

Drug enforcement agents, in collaboration with Riverside police

and sheriff’s deputies, seized more than $8.5 million in inventory

from Amirvand’s dealership Wednesday as a result of the arrest.

James Harris, an attorney for the dealership, denied the charges

and defended Amirvand’s integrity. Amirvand has been in business in

Orange County for more than 14 years and was not associated with any

drug lords, he said.

Amirvand’s arrest was just one of 57 in the past year related to

alleged ring leader Carlos Molina, officials said. This bust

uncovered five methamphetamine “super labs,” defined as locations

capable of manufacturing more than five pounds of finished product at

a time, in South Gate and rural portions of San Bernardino and

Riverside counties, Martinez said. Each lab was easily capable of

turning out 100 pounds of drugs at a time, he said.

Agents seized 33 pounds of finished methamphetamine product, eight

pounds of “meth ice” -- methamphetamine in the rock form -- 30,000

tabs of Ecstasy, 196 gallons of meth oil, 100 pounds of ephedrine and

392 pounds of sudephederine in connection to Molina’s alleged ring,

Martinez said.

The seizure of cars from Amirvand’s dealership was one of 13

seizures in connection with the yearlong investigation, Martinez

said. Agents hauled off the entire inventory because the cars are

considered liquid commodities, he said.

Many of the cars are being returned to their rightful owners

because they had no affiliation with the alleged drug ring, officials

said.

“He was doing some legit business, and agents are just starting to

go through all the paperwork to try and identify the legit owners,”

Martinez said.

Heavyweight Mike Tyson stored a fleet of cars at the Costa Mesa

dealership and was recently seen picking up a Lamborghini from his

private collection. Tyson’s representatives would not comment on

Amirvand’s arrest.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.