Gujarat man jailed in US for smuggling deadly fentanyl chemicals as vitamin C

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).

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.