5 days Ago
Surat: Two city-based companies have been charged in the US for alleged criminal conspiracies to import and distribute fentanyl precursor chemicals to the US. The companies, Athos Chemicals and Raxuter Chemicals , and the promoter of Raxuter Chemicals, Bhavesh Lathiya (36), are allegedly involved in the crime. Lathiya is also charged with smuggling and introducing misbranded drugs.
Lathiya was arrested in New York City on Jan 4 and is under detention pending trial. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 53 years in prison. It is also being investigated if both these companies are linked to each other.
Until 2022, Lathiya was executive director of Athos Collagen, according to his LinkedIn profile. Athos Collagen runs its office from the same floor as Athos Chemicals in the Jahangirpura area of the city, according to their websites. TOI visited the office of Athos Chemicals on Wednesday, but officials present there refused to talk, claiming that no senior official was available.
According to the US Department of Justice, "Fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, is the deadliest drug threat currently facing the US. It is a highly addictive synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl is designated as a Schedule II controlled substance, while various precursors that can be used to produce fentanyl are included on the controlled substance schedules List I and List II.
" Raxuter Chemicals and Lathiya are charged with conspiracy to distribute and import a listed chemical, distribution and importation of a listed chemical knowing it would be used to manufacture fentanyl, smuggling, and other related offences. Athos Chemicals is charged with similar offences, including conspiracy to distribute and import a listed chemical and distribution and importation of a listed chemical. The investigators found that the accused also sent their chemical products to the US and Mexico using international mail and package carriers.
The chemicals distributed by the accused included all the materials necessary to manufacture fentanyl via the most common methods or pathways. To prevent detection and interception of chemical products at the borders, the accused employed deceptive and fraudulent practices, such as mislabelling packages, falsifying customs forms, and making false declarations at border crossings. During investigation, it was found that Raxuter Chemicals supplied a package in New York in June, which claimed its content as Vitamin C.
However, it contained a List I chemical, 1-boc-4-piperidone, an unlawfully imported fentanyl precursor. In Oct 2024, Lathiya, on a video call with an undercover officer of Homeland Security Investigations, discussed the sale of fentanyl precursor chemicals. Lathiya agreed to sell 20kg of 1-boc-4-piperidone and proposed mislabelling the chemical as an antacid after the agent told him that "clients in Mexico were very happy with the quality of what you sent me" and with "the yield they got of the final product.
" In Nov 2024, Raxuter Chemicals and Lathiya shipped about 20kg of 1-boc-4-piperidone to New York. The package was mislabelled as an antacid. In Feb 2024, Athos Chemicals agreed to sell 100kg of 1-boc-4-piperidone to a known drug trafficker in Mexico who was making fentanyl in association with a drug trafficking organisation.
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