An executive from a chemical company based in India has been arrested, and two companies have been indicted for conspiring to distribute fentanyl precursor chemicals to the United States, according to the announcement made by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York today.
Bhavesh Lathiya, a 36-year-old founder and senior executive of Raxuter Chemicals, was apprehended in New York City on January 4th, as confirmed by the U.S. attorney’s office.
The defendants are accused of supplying fentanyl precursor chemicals, including 1-boc-4-piperidone, to the United States and Mexico. The Department has confirmed that they were aware that these chemicals would be used in the production of fentanyl.
The defendants used international carriers to ship the chemicals and employed deceitful tactics like falsifying customs forms and mislabeling packages in order to evade detection, according to the office’s report.
The U.S. attorney’s office discovered that a package, which arrived at a New York address in June 2024, was falsely labeled as Vitamin C. However, upon further inspection, it was found to contain 1-boc-4-piperidone.
According to the department, Athos Chemicals was also involved in a case where they agreed to sell 100 kilograms of 1-boc-4-piperidone to a known Mexican drug trafficker in February 2024.
The U.S. attorney’s office has stated that cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, have been using these chemicals in clandestine laboratories to produce fentanyl.
“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,” stated Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
“We allege these companies, and a company founder and senior executive who is now in custody, conspired to distribute and import fentanyl precursor chemicals from India to the United States and Mexico.”