US sanctions 2 as aides to Mumbai drugs kingpin

The United States named two top aides to Mumbai drugs kingpin Dawood Ibrahim as key drug traffickers Tuesday and placed sanctions on them aimed at constricting their access to global business and financial networks. The Treasury Department said Indian nationals Chhota Shakeel and Ibrahim “Tiger” Memon are key lieutenants of Ibrahim in his notorious “D Company” operation, which smuggles narcotics around South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It said Mumbai-born Shakeel, 57, coordinates D Company dealings with “other organized crime and terror groups”. Memon, 52, controls D Company’s businesses across South Asia and is also wanted by Indian authorities for alleged involvement in the Mumbai bombings of 1993, which were tied closely to Ibrahim. The bombings, targeted at Hindus, killed more than 250 people. “Drug trafficking activities of D Company include the smuggling of heroin and hashish from Afghanistan and Thailand to the United States, Western Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa,” the Treasury said. The official designation of the two as narcotics traffickers by the Treasury bans Americans and US businesses from engaging in business of any kind with them and freezes any assets they might have on US property. Ibrahim Dawood has been designated a global terrorist by the United States since 2003 and a major drug dealer since 2006.