U.S. targets Colombian drug kingpins with sanctions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government targeted two of Colombia's most prominent cocaine kingpins with economic sanctions on Thursday in an attempt to disrupt their smuggling operations.

The U.S. Treasury said it was barring any financial or commercial transactions by U.S. citizens and companies with Colombian brothers Miguel Angel Mejia and Victor Manuel Mejia, who are known as "Los Mellizos", or "The Twins".

The move also allows U.S. authorities to freeze any assets held by the brothers or their businesses in the United States.

"The Mejia Munera brothers are violent fugitives from justice," said Adam Szubin, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

He said the same economic sanctions were also taken on Thursday against two less prominent Colombian traffickers and several front companies.

Prosecutors say the Mejia brothers rose through the ranks of Colombia's powerful Norte del Valle drugs cartel before setting up their own cocaine gangs.

They were indicted by a U.S. court on smuggling charges in 2004, and Washington has offered $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Miguel Angel Mejia.

The other two men targeted on Thursday are Ramiro Vanoy and Francisco Zuluaga Lindo. They were both indicted by a Florida court in 1999 and are serving prison sentences in Colombia. Treasury said they both face extradition to the United States.