Two Indian chemical companies and a senior executive have been indicted for allegedly distributing ingredients used to make fentanyl. Raxuter Chemicals and Athos Chemicals, both based in Gujarat, face charges of distributing precursor chemicals and conspiring to distribute them. Raxuter and its senior executive, 36-year-old Bhavesh Lathiya, are also charged with smuggling and introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.
“The Justice Department is targeting every link in fentanyl trafficking supply chains that span countries and continents and too often end in tragedy in the United States,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement.
Lathiya was arrested in New York City on Jan. 4 and has been arraigned. According to the indictment and court filings, the defendants knowingly supplied precursor chemicals to the United States and Mexico, among other locations, aware that these chemicals would be used to manufacture fentanyl. They allegedly used international mail and package carriers to ship their products and employed deceptive practices to evade detection, such as mislabeling packages, falsifying customs forms, and making false declarations.
“Much of our nation’s illicit fentanyl crisis can be traced to bad actors overseas who knowingly and illegally traffic precursor chemicals to North America, where cartels refine them into deadly narcotics and wreak immeasurable heartbreak and destruction on so many American communities,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas.
According to the indictment, one shipment from Raxuter Chemicals, delivered on June 29, 2024, to an address in New York, was falsely labeled as containing Vitamin C. In reality, prosecutors say it contained 1-boc-4-piperidone, a restricted chemical used in fentanyl production. On two occasions in Oct. 2024, Lathiya is accused of discussing selling fentanyl precursor chemicals in video calls with an undercover Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officer. During these calls, the Justice Department says Lathiya agreed to sell 20 kilograms of 1-boc-4-piperidone and suggested mislabeling it as an antacid to avoid detection. The shipment, mislabeled as an antacid, was allegedly sent to New York in Nov. 2024.