The United States has imposed visa restrictions on the owner and 13 business associates of an India-based online pharmacy over alleged fentanyl trafficking.
The action is linked to KS International Traders, also known as KS Pharmacy.
According to the US State Department, the company allegedly sold counterfeit prescription pills laced with illicit fentanyl to people in the United States.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the visa restrictions are being imposed on 13 individuals associated with KS International Traders and its owner. He said the company had generated revenue through the trafficking of illicit fentanyl.
The US said the action was taken under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The restriction means those linked to the alleged trafficking network may be denied entry into the United States.
Pigott said the move shows the shared commitment of the US and India to fight illegal drug networks. He added that those involved in “poisoning Americans” would not be allowed to enter the US.
This is not the first action against the network. In September last year, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had sanctioned two Indian nationals, Sadiq Abbas Habib Sayyed and Khizar Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh, along with KS International Traders.
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The US alleged that the two men, based in India, worked with traffickers in the US and the Dominican Republic to sell counterfeit pills as genuine medicines. However, the pills were allegedly laced with fentanyl, fentanyl analogues and methamphetamine.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid and has become a major reason behind overdose deaths in America. The Trump administration has also described illicit fentanyl as a serious national security threat.
The latest visa restrictions are part of Washington’s larger crackdown on international networks accused of supplying fentanyl and related chemicals to the US.
Reuters reported that the targeted company is based in Mumbai and that India’s foreign and health ministries had not immediately commented on the latest US move.
