The United States has launched one of its most expansive crackdowns yet on the global synthetic opioid supply chain, imposing sweeping sanctions on a network of individuals and entities with direct links to India. At the center of the action are Gujarat-based chemical suppliers accused of shipping critical fentanyl precursors to drug cartels operating in Mexico and Guatemala. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against 23 individuals and entities connected to the Sinaloa Cartel, a move that places India squarely within the crosshairs of Washington's intensifying campaign against illicit drug trafficking networks. The sanctions target the full length of the supply chain — from chemical manufacturers and brokers to cartel-affiliated traffickers — who together enable the production and distribution of synthetic opioids that ultimately flood American streets. India-Based Operators Named in US Treasury Action Among those designated by the US Treasury are Satishkumar Hareshbhai Sutaria, a Gujarat-based pharmaceutical chemicals supplier, and his associate Yuktakumari Ashishkumar Modi. According to US authorities, the two played a central role in facilitating shipments of fentanyl precursor chemicals — most notably N-Boc-4-Piperidone — to recipients in Mexico and Guatemala. To avoid detection by customs and regulatory agencies, these shipments were systematically mislabeled as 'safe chemicals.' Sutaria and Modi
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