WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury Tuesday named an Afghan national with ties to the Taliban as an international drug dealer.
Lahore Jan is a known heroin trafficker operating in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, who has been known to move money for Taliban insurgents in the country, the Treasury Department said in a release. As a result of the designation under the U.S. Kingpin Act, any funds in American accounts have been frozen and U.S. banks are banned from doing business with Jan.
"Lahore Jan promotes instability, organized crime, and terror via the Afghan heroin and hashish trades," said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. "Today's action sends a clear message: OFAC will continue to target and expose anyone, anywhere involved in these illicit activities."
Szubin said Jan's drug network extends to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and the United Arab Emirates and he's been known to move funds for various narcotics trafficking networks in other countries, as well.
