US court sentences Gujarat businessman to 54 months in prison for smuggling fentanyl precursors

<p>Ahmedabad: A US court has sentenced a Surat businessman to 54 months in prison for distributing and smuggling fentanyl precursor chemicals from India by mislabelling them as vitamin C and using other “deceptive and fraudulent practices.” </p><p>The businessman Bhavesh Lakhiya’s name had also surfaced in an investigation into a similar case detected by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad last year.

</p>.Gujarat: Youths beaten up for reading books threaten protests if key accused not arrested.<p>A federal court presided over by United States district judge Pamela K Chen sentenced Lakhiya to 54 months in prison. These chemicals were alleged to be used to manufacture fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which is said to be 100 times more powerful than morphine and is considered as the biggest drug menace in the United States.

</p><p>The United States Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York in a press release said that Lathiya has also been ordered to pay a forfeiture of 24,560 US dollars. The sentencing came after Lathiya pleaded guilty in April this year. The press statement said that he would be deported to India after the completion of the jail term.