Indian based companies facing criminal charges in USA

ISLAMABAD, JANUARY 2 (APP): On January 2, 2026, US federal prosecutors in New York’s Eastern District unsealed indictments exposing India-based companies Raxuter Chemicals and Athos Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. as central actors in a conspiracy to flood the United States and Mexico with fentanyl precursors.

Founder Raxuter Chemicals Bhavesh Ranchhodbhai Lathiya faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted, highlighting the gravity of the case. This scandal underscores India’s alarming complicity in America’s opioid epidemic, which claimed over 76,000 lives from fentanyl overdoses in 2024 alone, according to CDC data.

Prosecutors detailed deliberate evasion tactics: shipments mislabeled as innocuous vitamin C—like the June 2024 interception in New York containing 1,000+ kilograms of 1-boc-4-piperidone, enough to produce millions of fentanyl doses.

Lathiya allegedly negotiated sales during recorded video calls with undercover Homeland Security agents, fully aware the chemicals fueled Mexican cartels. Falsified customs documentation further concealed the shipments, mirroring a broader pattern in India’s chemical export boom.

India dominates the global fentanyl precursor supply, exporting 70% of seized precursors worldwide (UNODC, 2025) and contributing to a crisis costing the US $1.5 trillion annually in healthcare and lost productivity (RAND Corp.).

Under Prime Minister Modi’s lax regulatory oversight, such firms thrive, with India supplying 90% of precursors in 2023 DEA seizures. While Lathiya awaits trial, detained, the Indian government continues to dodge accountability, prioritizing corporate profits over human lives. The question looms: when will the world hold New Delhi responsible for exporting death and fueling a global health catastrophe?