Us Busts Fentanyl Smugglers’ Networks With India’s Help

Cooperation rather than sanctions and tariff hikes has worked  \

US President Donald Trump wrote in an April 24 Truth Social post last year: "By the way, Fentanyl continues to pour into our Country from China, through Mexico and Canada, killing hundreds of thousands of our people, and it better stop, NOW!"  

Trump's hyperbolic accusations have been challenged by the countries concerned. Critics point out that drug dealers will not make a beeline to the US if there is no market for such substances there. They ask, is it not the responsibility of the US authorities and American civil society to stem the social rot in their midst? Is annexation of Canada to be the 52 nd. State of the US, the ideal way to stop the alleged use of Canada to smuggle Fentanyl into the US?  

As in the case of climate change, the flow of drugs cannot be stopped  by finger pointing or weaponizing tariffs, but by cooperating with all stakeholders for the common good.  

The Trump administration had levelled the charge that the Indian State was turning a blind eye to drug smuggling by its nationals. But  once the matter was brought to New Delhi's attention, the response was overwhelmingly positive, setting an example to others confronted by a similar issue. 

Threat from Fentanyl        

Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45.   Although overdose deaths dropped sharply in 2024 to a five-year low, US federal health data still recorded nearly 80,000 fatalities, with synthetic opioids like fentanyl remaining the primary cause. Fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.    

Mexico is a major conduit for drugs flowing into the US. The chemicals used to make fentanyl are sourced from China and to some extent from India, by traffickers and turned into the finished product in Mexican labs before being smuggled into the US. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Sinaloa Cartel uses tactics such as hiding chemicals among legitimate goods, mislabelling containers, using front companies, and shipping through third countries.  

The Trump administration has accused the Mexican government of colluding with cartels, which Mexico calls "slander". However, in December 2025, shortly after Trump threatened tariffs, Mexican security forces announced their largest-ever fentanyl seizure — equivalent to around 20 million doses.  

In response to the tariff threat, Mexico launched Operation Northern Border in February, deploying 10,000 national guard troops along the US-Mexico border.  

India's Place in Fentanyl  

The 2025 Annual Threat Assessment report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence states that non-state groups are enabled, directly and indirectly, by State actors such as China and  India as sources of precursors and equipment for drug traffickers.  
China remains the primary source of illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals and pill-pressing equipment, followed by India, according to the ATA.  

Last year's report named India as a secondary source (to a lesser extent) for Mexican cartels. The 2023 report made no mention of India in relation to fentanyl.  

India is a global leader in generic drug manufacturing and is often called the "Pharmacy of the World," but its industry has faced controversy over regulation and quality control.  

Indians in the Dock  

On April 3 this year, the US Justice Department announced that the head of an Indian chemical company had pleaded guilty to distributing and smuggling fentanyl precursor chemicals.  

Bhavesh Lathiya, 37, an entrepreneur from Gujarat, appeared before a Federal Court in Brooklyn and pleaded guilty. He was the founder of Raxuter Chemicals in Surat. The company illegally sold and smuggled more than 50 pounds of chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl. He faces up to 40 years' imprisonment.

Lathiya supplied precursor chemicals to the US and Mexico using international mail and package carriers. The chemicals included all materials necessary to manufacture fentanyl. To evade detection, he used deceptive practices such as mislabelling packages and falsifying customs forms.  

On or about June 29, 2024, a Raxuter Chemicals package delivered to the Eastern District of New York was falsely listed as Vitamin C; it actually contained the List I chemical 1-boc-4-piperidone, an unlawfully imported fentanyl precursor.  

On October 2 and October 15, 2024, Lathiya appeared on video calls with a Homeland Security Investigations undercover officer to discuss sales. After being told that clients in Mexico were "very happy with the quality" and "the yield they got of the final product," he agreed to sell 20 kilograms of 1-boc-4-piperidone.  

On or about November 23, 2024, Raxuter Chemicals shipped approximately 20 kilograms of 1-boc-4-piperidone to the Eastern District of New York, mislabelled as an antacid.  

Vasudha Pharma  

In March 2025, India-based Vasudha Pharma Chem Limited (VPC) and three high-level employees were charged in federal court in Washington, D.C., for illegally importing precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl.  Charged were VPC Chief Global Business Officer Tanweer Ahmed   Mohamed Hussain Parkar, 63 (India and UK); VPC Marketing Director   Venkata Naga Madhusudhan Raju Manthena, 48 (India); and VPC Marketing Representative Krishna Vericharla, 40 (India). They face multiple counts of manufacturing and distributing a List I fentanyl precursor chemical for unlawful importation into the US, and conspiring to do the same.  

The company advertised fentanyl precursors on its website and at international trade shows. From March through November 2024, the defendants conspired to distribute the precursor knowing it would be unlawfully imported and used to make fentanyl.  

On two occasions (March 2024 and August 2024), they sold an undercover agent 25 kilograms of N-BOC-4-piperidone (N-BOC-4P), a List I chemical.  Between August and September 2024, they negotiated a  4,000kilogram purchase of N-BOC-4P — two metric tons to Sinaloa,  Mexico, and two metric tons to the US — for approximately $380,000, knowing it would be used to manufacture fentanyl unlawfully.  VPC, Vericharla and Manthena were also charged with a second count of manufacture and distribution of a listed chemical, each carrying a $500,000 fine.  

Smugglers' Internet Domains  

On February 26 this year, ANI reported that the US DEA's "Operation Meltdown" led to the seizure of more than 200 internet domains linked to illegal online pharmacies run by an India-based transnational criminal syndicate. The network has been associated with at least six fatal and four non-fatal overdoses in the US from fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills. The probe began in 2022.  

The fake prescription drugs were marketed as legitimate medicines, shipped directly to American consumers, and often contaminated with fentanyl — where even a single pill can be deadly.  

From Accusation to Collaboration  

In the case of India, the US has shifted from accusation to collaboration. With smugglers using ever more ingenious methods, Washington has toned down rhetoric and focused on international partnerships to dismantle networks.  In the last two years, US-India collaboration — to the full satisfaction of FBI Director Kash Patel — has destroyed several transnational networks and led to key arrests.  

Patel said he called Indian officials urging urgent help. The response was immediate. He told them the precursors were entering India (which does not consume fentanyl) and then being shipped to the US. Indian officials replied: "We're going to shut them down. We're going to sanction them; we're going to arrest them where we can.  We're going to indict them in America if we can. We're going to indict them in India if we can."  

The DEA stated: "Leveraging its global reach, DEA actively collaborates with our Government of India law enforcement partners  
to identify, investigate, and dismantle dangerous criminal organizations that engage in these types of illegal drug trafficking operations."

US authorities noted that the fentanyl crisis shifts rapidly, with traffickers adjusting routes, chemicals, financial channels and sales strategies. The supply chain has become a flexible global system, making overseas partnerships essential for early-stage disruption — before precursors reach labs, shipments are processed, or counterfeit pills appear online.  

Arrests in India  

On March 17, India's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Gujarat arrested two people linked to Surat-based pharmaceutical companies for allegedly exporting illicit fentanyl precursors to Mexico and Guatemala.  

In response to Newsweek, the Indian Home Ministry outlined its strategy: "The Modi government has a clearly chiselled-out strategy to pin down illicit diversion of drugs. Broadly, this strategy hinges on the convergence of the agencies that are mandated to eradicate the menace."  

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization issues Export No Objection Certificates for legitimate consignments. Although CDSCO is not formally part of the NCORD (Narco Coordination Centre) mechanism, the NOC helps anti-narcotics agencies distinguish legal from illegal shipments. Anyone unable to produce the certificate is likely a trafficker.  

Law enforcement coordinates through NCORD: "Once the path for the investigation is clutter-free, all the anti-narcotics agencies from the apex level to the district level seamlessly share data and information and coordinate among themselves under the umbrella body NCORD, which is where they converge and arrive at the desired end of busting drug cartels," the Home Ministry said. 

The Indian government is tracking the issue at the highest levels. Recently, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a new counternarcotics initiative among G20 countries to combat dangerous drugs like fentanyl.