US Treasury targets MEH Operator for supporting Taliban

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Mullah Ahmed Shah Noorzai pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and their supporters. Ahmed Shah owns and operates the UN-designated Roshan Money Exchange (RMX), which was previously designated in June 2012 pursuant to E.O. 13224 for providing financial services to the Taliban. RMX stores and transfers funds and profits in support of Taliban military operations as well as the Taliban’s role in the Afghan narcotics trade.

As of 2011, RMX was one of the primary hawalas, or money exchange houses, used by Taliban members to support their narcotics operations based in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Today, the United Nations also added Ahmed Shah to its 1988 List of individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with the Taliban which constitute a threat to the peace, stability and security of Afghanistan.

“We will continue to target financial activity linked to the Taliban as they increasingly turn to exchange houses to fund their continued violence,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. “These financial networks are instrumental in funneling money for terrorist operations and they are also deeply involved in managing the illicit revenues of the Taliban’s vast narcotics trade.”