Crime Boss Dawood Ibrahim May Be Behind Mumbai Attacks

Indian security officials believe that Dawood Ibrahim, a notorious organized crime boss with connections to both India and Pakistan, may be the mastermind behind the Mumbai massacre. Haaretz is reporting that 21-year-old Amir Kasab, the only terrorist captured in the attacks, conceded to authorities that Ibrahim helped finance both his training in Pakistan, and the murderous attacks in Mumbai that began last Wednesday.

Fast facts about Dawood Ibrahim

The 53-year-old Ibrahim was born in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India. He is also know as Dawood Ebrahim, Sheikh Dawood Hassan, and Sheikh Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, which is his birth name. His brothers, Anees Ibrahim and Chetan Gaidhane, are believed to be his chief business partners. Ibrahim started his life of crime in Bombay (now called Mumbai). From there, he expanded his operations throughout the Persian Gulf states. He heads up D-Company, an organized crime syndicate that does billions of dollars of business in operations such as drug smuggling and money laundering.

Ibrahim and his organization, D-Company, have actively attempted to destabilize the Indian government. He is believed to be behind a series of attacks on Mumbai that occurred in March of 1993. After those attacks, he allegedly took refuge in Pakistan, where it is believed he is being protected by the Pakistani government. Pakistan denies any knowledge of his whereabouts.

Authorities suspect that Ibrahim is heavily involved in the narcotics trade, and possibly shares drug smuggling routes with al-Qaeda that snake through South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. He purportedly travels under the protection of the Taliban. Large quantities of his narcotics allegedly find their way into Western Europe.

The United States government has declared Ibrahim a "global terrorist." In 2003, the Bush administration determined that Ibrahim has close ties with al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and, as a result, has attempted to freeze his assets. It is believed that these sanctions have seriously curtailed Ibrahim's mobility and have cut into his financial resources.

Ibrahim is number 4 on Forbes's top 10 list of the world's most dreaded criminals of 2008.

Sources:

haaretz.com

rightpundits.com