Seizure of Majestic X VLCC Tanker Linked to Kinahan Cartel and IRGC Dark Fleet Operations
The US Indo-Pacific Command’s combined operation, coordinated by the Lewis B. Puller Class expeditionary staging base USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), resulted in the seizure of an OFAC-sanctioned VLCC tanker, the Majestic X (IMO 9198317), on April 23. The vessel was fully laden with two million barrels of oil worth $192m at market prices.
The Majestic X had been plying its trade between the Gulf and northern Chinese ports since 2023, possibly pausing and holding off Sri Lanka on this passage for fear of being seized as part of the tighter controls now being imposed on sanctioned vessels by the US Treasury. The ship’s original name was Luna Lake, and it was purchased for $43 million by Marshall Islands-registered Faith Enterprise Ltd in 2023.
Mounir Lazzez: A Key Figure in the Kinahan Cartel
Mounir Lazzez, a Tunisian cage fighter formerly resident in Dubai, appears to have been a trusted associate of US-sanctioned Daniel Kinahan, boxing promoter and scion of the Kinahan international drugs cartel. As director of Dragon Road Ltd, registered in the Marshall Islands alongside Faith Enterprise Ltd, Lazzez was also associated with the purchase for $41.74m of a sister ship, the 2000-built VLCC then named Alisha (IMO 9197832). The Alisha, now renamed Serene 1, was sanctioned by OFAC in September 2024 for trading Iranian oil on behalf of the IRGC and Hezbollah-linked entities in Lebanon.
Kinahan Cartel Leadership and Ties to IRGC and Hezbollah
The links between the Kinahans, Mounir Lazzez, the IRGC, Hezbollah, and Iranian oil exports have a speculative element, sufficient to support sanctions action by OFAC – but not, until the arrest by the Dubai Police of Daniel Kinahan on April 15, sufficient to disturb the rest of the Kinahan clan, including its head Christy Kinahan, who continues to live openly in Dubai. Christy Kinahan is a convicted heroin smuggler and was designated by the US Treasury for his organized crime links in April 2022.
Speculative Element: Evidential Linkages
The missing evidential element of the case against the Kinahan cartel for involvement with the IRGC, Hezbollah, and Iranian oil sanctions-breaking may well be produced in court, whether in Dubai or in the District of Columbia, where federal prosecutors obtained a seizure order over the Majestic X‘s cargo. However, the enormous criminal gains of the Kinahans may have something to do with the undisturbed life they continue to enjoy in Dubai, despite the incongruity of the Kinahans having to dodge drones fired at Dubai by the IRGC, which they in turn may have helped finance.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on April 28 described the seizure of the Majestic X as “legitimizing piracy and armed robbery at sea,” suggestive of Iran’s beneficial ownership.
Original Article: Kinahan Cartel Linked to Iran’s IRGC Dark Fleet Operations — The Maritime Executive