Who Is Bhavesh Lathiya, the Gujarati Businessman Sentenced to 4.5 Years in a US Prison Over ‘Vitamin C’ and ‘Antacid’ Shipments?

Bhavesh Lathiya, an Indian chemical company executive from Surat, has been sentenced to 54 months in a US federal prison for smuggling and distributing precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl. The US Department of Justice described the case as the first of its kind, even though Lathiya is not American and does not operate in the United States.

Lathiya founded and led Surat-based Raxuter Chemicals. He pleaded guilty in April and received the sentence on September 2 from US District Judge Pamela K. Chen in federal court in Brooklyn. He must also forfeit $24,560 and will be deported after completing his prison term.

Prosecutors said Lathiya and his company illegally sold and shipped more than 50 pounds of chemicals to customers in the United States and Mexico. The materials included chemicals capable of supplying all the ingredients needed to manufacture fentanyl through commonly used production routes.

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During a national crisis when hundreds of Americans were dying every day of fentanyl overdoses, Lathiya smuggled and distributed chemical ingredients, including those that were the building blocks for this deadly drug, without any regard for the harm that his conduct would cause.

Court filings said Lathiya used deceptive shipping practices to avoid customs and law-enforcement scrutiny. Packages containing controlled precursor chemicals allegedly carried false descriptions and falsified customs documents. A shipment from Raxuter Chemicals that arrived in New York on June 29, 2024, was declared as Vitamin C, but investigators said it contained 1-boc-4-piperidone, a regulated chemical used in fentanyl synthesis.

The investigation later put Lathiya in contact with an undercover Homeland Security Investigations officer. During video calls in October 2024, the officer said customers in Mexico were satisfied with the quality of chemicals previously supplied and the amount of final product they had obtained. Prosecutors said Lathiya agreed to supply another 20 kilograms of 1-boc-4-piperidone and proposed disguising it as an antacid. The shipment was sent to the United States in November 2024 with an antacid label.

US officials said the case targeted fentanyl production before the drug itself was made. US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said Lathiya had distributed chemical building blocks for the drug without regard for the harm his conduct could cause, and that the sentence sent a clear message that precursor traffickers would be held accountable.

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With today's sentence, the message is loud and clear that our Office will hold precursor traffickers like the defendant accountable for their role in the fentanyl supply chain.