The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two Indian nationals accused of running online pharmacies that sold fake pills filled with deadly drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine to American consumers.
According to a report from the Washington Times, the officials identified the two accused, 39-year-old Sadiq Abbas Habib Sayyed and 34-year-old Khizar Mohammed Iqbal Shaikh, as key players in the scheme. An official said both Sayyed and Shaikh worked with traffickers in the US and the Dominican Republic, using encrypted messaging platforms to market fake pills as legitimate pharmaceutical products.
The sanctions freeze any property or assets the two men hold in the US and bar American businesses or individuals from engaging with them. Violations carry the risk of civil and criminal penalties.
"Too many families have been torn apart by fentanyl. Today, we are acting to hold accountable those who profit from this poison," John K Hurley, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at Treasury said, according to the Washington Times. "Treasury will continue to advance President Trump's commitment to Make America Fentanyl Free by targeting drug traffickers."
Part of a wider drug crisis
Fake pills are fueling America's worsening drug-overdose crisis, which claims tens of thousands of lives annually. Mexican drug cartels have been pressing fentanyl — a synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin — into tablets marketed as Adderall and other prescription medicines. The pills, often made with precursor chemicals from China, are sold cheaply online to unsuspecting users.
"Today's action spotlights the role of illegal online pharmacies, some of which are based in India, that are responsible for supplying counterfeit pills to individuals worldwide, including US consumers," the Treasury department said in a news release.
In addition to sanctioning Sayyed and Shaikh, the department also targeted KS International Traders, an online pharmacy allegedly used by Shaikh to distribute the counterfeit drugs.
Legal action already underway
The sanctions follow criminal indictments filed in September 2024 in the Southern District of New York, where both men face drug-trafficking charges.
US officials say these steps are part of a larger crackdown on international drug networks exploiting the internet to funnel fentanyl into American communities.
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