The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned two Indian nationals and an online pharmacy for flooding America with counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl and other deadly drugs.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Sadiq Abbas Habib Sayyed, 39, and Khizar Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh, 34, for their roles in trafficking hundreds of thousands of fake prescription pills to unsuspecting Americans.
Authorities say the duo worked with U.S.- and Dominican-based drug traffickers to market what looked like legitimate medication but were in fact poison-packed pills.
Shaikh, based in Mumbai, also ran KS International Traders, a sham "online pharmacy" that continued operating even after federal indictments were unsealed last year.
Despite being exposed, KS International kept pushing counterfeit Oxycodone, Adderall, Xanax, and other medications, many of them spiked with fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and methamphetamine.
Treasury officials said the designations send a clear message: America is not tolerating the exploitation of online platforms to funnel lethal drugs into U.S. communities.
"Too many families have been torn apart by fentanyl," said John K. Hurley, Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
"Today, we are acting to hold accountable those who profit from this poison," he added. "Treasury will continue to advance President Trump's commitment to Make America Fentanyl Free by targeting drug traffickers."
Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45.
Officials say online suppliers in India have become a key link in the global chain, with Mexican cartels also buying precursor chemicals from them to churn out fentanyl in cartel-run labs.
The sanctions were issued under Executive Order 14059 and coordinated with the Department of Justice, DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Under the sanctions, all U.S.-linked property belonging to Sayyed, Shaikh, or KS International is blocked.
American individuals and companies are barred from doing business with them. Violators face stiff civil and criminal penalties.
Treasury stressed that these actions are not just about punishment but about cutting off the supply lines fueling the fentanyl epidemic.
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