Dealer With Pet Jaguar Convicted Of Running Southland Drug Delivery Ring

HOLLYWOOD, CA — A Hollywood woman was found guilty this week of running a tech-savvy drug delivery service that used a fleet of drivers and mobile payments to peddle fentanyl-laced pills that killed or nearly killed several people.

The ring was run by Mirela "Mimi" Todorova, 36, who ran the operation from her Hollywood Boulevard apartment and during visits to Mexico, where she also tended to her pet jaguar named Princess, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Todorova was found guilty after a nine-day federal trial of one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of distribution of fentanyl, three counts of distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute MDMA, and one count of making false statements to federal investigators, according to prosecutors.

The jury also found that Todorova must forfeit $498,555 in drug proceeds to the government.

Todorova provided cellphones and drugs — including counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl — to drivers, who delivered drugs to customers across Los Angeles County. Todorova — a citizen of the U.S., Canada and Bulgaria — also delivered drugs herself, prosecutors said.

In several instances, law enforcement surveillance observed Todorova picking up items in a West Adams stash house believed to be connected to the Tijuana Cartel, Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Caleb D. Hodgson wrote in the criminal complaint obtained by Patch.

In one text message exchange with a customer included in the complaint, Todorova offered details on her menu options and pricing — "C, M, K, pink 2CB, addy, xan, oxy blues, acid, mushrooms, mushroom chocolates. Delivery cost $30 and the minimum order was $230 — she took "cash, CashApp, Apple Pay, Zelle, Paypal or Venmo."

After the exchange, that customer would end up dying in his Beverly Hills home from what the medical examiner termed the "effects of ethanol, clonazepam And fentanyl,' according to court documents.

Todorova hired Mucktarr Kather Sei, 39, of Koreatown as a driver and, later, gave him the keys to her Hollywood apartment, allowing him to run the drug ring's operations while continuing to direct him from abroad, prosecutors said.

Sei is an actor who had small parts in shows such as "S.W.A.T."

Despite warnings from customers that the oxycodone pills she was selling were laced with fentanyl and potentially fatal, Todorova continued to sell them. From November 2020 to January 2021, three customers of Todorova's suffered near-fatal overdoses of fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills. Despite knowing their danger, Todorova continued to sell these fentanyl-laced pills until February 2021, prosecutors said.

Police the following month executed search warrants, including at Todorova's home, and seized methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and a purported oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl, prosecutors said.

Sei and two others — Christopher Y. Moreno Núñez, 29, of Pacific Palisades and Ashley Alicia Nicole Johnson, 34, of Los Angeles — each pleaded guilty last year in Los Angeles federal court to felony narcotics distribution charges and will be sentenced in the coming months.

Todorova is due back in court on Sept. 12 for sentencing, where she faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, prosecutors said.