Two Indian companies -- Raxuter Chemicals and Athos Chemicals -- have been charged with criminal conspiracies to distribute and import fentanyl precursor chemicals to the United States. Bhavesh Lathiya, a founder and senior executive of Raxuter Chemicals, was arrested in New York on January 4 on the same charges. US Magistrate Judge Joseph A Marutollo for the Eastern District of New York has ordered detained pending trial. If convicted, Lathiya faces a maximum penalty of 53 years in prison.

This is probably for the first time that Indian companies and its executives have been charged for distribution and import of fentanyl precursor chemicals to the United States. Most Chinese companies have been charged for such criminal conspiracies for distribution and import of Fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, which is considered to be the deadliest drug threat currently facing the US.