A 37-year-old Gujarat man, Bhavesh Ranchhodbhai Lathiya, has been sentenced to 54 months (around four-and-a-half years) in prison in the US for smuggling chemicals used to manufacture the deadly opioid fentanyl.
Lathiya disguised the chemicals as vitamin C and antacid pills to get them into the country.
HOW DID BHAVESH LATHIYA SMUGGLE ILLEGAL CHEMICALS INTO THE US?
According to court filings, Lathiya supplied precursor chemicals to customers based in the US and Mexico despite knowing they would be used to manufacture fentanyl.
According to court filings, during video calls with undercover agents in October 2024, he agreed to sell 20 kilograms of the fentanyl precursor chemical, 1-boc-4-piperidone.
A 37-year-old Gujarat man, Bhavesh Ranchhodbhai Lathiya, has been sentenced to 54 months (around four-and-a-half years) in prison in the US for smuggling chemicals used to manufacture the deadly opioid fentanyl. Lathiya disguised the chemicals as vitamin C and antacid pills to get them into the country.
According to a press release by the US Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of New York, Bhavesh Ranchhodbhai Lathiya, also known as Bhavesh Bhai, Bhavesh Patel and Bhavesh Lathiya, was sentenced by US District Judge Pamela K Chen in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York City on Wednesday. Lathiya, a native of Surat, will be deported upon completion of his sentence in March 2031. He has also been ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $24,560 (approximately Rs 23 lakh).
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Bhavesh Lathiya was the founder and leader of Raxuter Chemicals, a Surat-based firm that illegally sold and smuggled more than 50 pounds of chemicals into the US that were commonly used to manufacture fentanyl.
The case was described by US prosecutors as the first of its kind involving an India-based supplier. Lathiya was arrested in January 2025 in New York City and was 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, which carried a maximum prison sentence of 53 years. He subsequently pleaded guilty in April 2026.
"During a national crisis when hundreds of Americans were dying every day of fentanyl overdoses, Lathiya smuggled and distributed chemical ingredients, including those that were the building blocks for this deadly drug, without any regard for the harm that his conduct would cause," stated US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr.
"With today's sentence, the message is loud and clear that our Office will hold precursor traffickers like the defendant accountable for their role in the fentanyl supply chain," Nocella added.
Fentanyl is a very potent synthetic opioid, normally prescribed to manage severe pain, but when consumed without medical oversight, it can be deadly even at very small doses. The US has been for decades grappling with a deadly opioid crisis, with fentanyl driving a large share of drug overdose deaths in the country.
HOW DID BHAVESH LATHIYA SMUGGLE ILLEGAL CHEMICALS INTO THE US?
According to court filings, Lathiya supplied precursor chemicals to customers based in the US and Mexico despite knowing they would be used to manufacture fentanyl.
Lathiya's Surat-based company would ship the chemicals using international mail and package carriers, while using false labels and customs declarations to evade detection.
In one instance, a Rauxter Chemicals package delivered to a New York address in June 2024 was declared to contain vitamin C. It actually contained a chemical called 1-boc-4-piperidone, a fentanyl precursor that cannot be imported into the US.
Lathiya was caught red-handed in an undercover operation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
According to court filings, during video calls with undercover agents in October 2024, he agreed to sell 20 kilograms of the fentanyl precursor chemical, 1-boc-4-piperidone.
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He had also proposed falsely labelling the chemicals as antacids. A shipment of the chemicals labelled as antacid subsequently landed at a New York address in November 2024.
HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Peter Gizas stated that Lathitya's activities put him "at the source of a fentanyl supply chain".
"Bhavesh Lathiya's conduct placed him at the source of the fentanyl supply chain, where he knowingly moved the chemical building blocks of a lethal drug into the US through deception, false labeling, and international shipments in a prosecution that breaks new ground against an India-based supplier," Gizas stated. He added, "By feeding the market for fentanyl at its earliest stage, he turned chemical commerce into a direct threat to public safety, widening the reach of a drug that continues to inflict profound harm across our communities."
Now, Bhavesh Ranchhodbhai Lathiya has been sentenced to 54 months in a US prison. Provided he is not released early, Lathiya will be behind bars until at least March 2031, following which he will be deported to India.
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Published By: Shounak Sanyal Published On: Sep 3, 2026 18:26 IST
