Gujarat ATS arrests two for sending precursors for making Fentanyl to Mexico, Guatemala-based drug cartels

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday said that it has arrested two persons for sending precursors for manufacturing psychotropic substance Fentanyl and other such banned drugs to Mexico, Guatemala, among other countries notorious for having international drug cartels.

The ATS officials said that it received an intelligence input that Satish H Sutariya, the major partner of Athos Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., Agrat Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, and S R Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals in Surat, along with his partners including Yukta A Modi, in collusion with certain drug mafias from Mexico and Guatemala were allegedly exporting the banned precursors.

The firm which was to receive the consignment abroad has been identified as J&C, which ATS officials suspect, is a dummy company likely to be associated with Sinaloa Cartel.

Both Sutariya and Modi have been booked under Sections 28 (attempt to commit offence), 29 (party to criminal conspiracy), and 30 (offences involving commercial quantities of narcotics) of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Act along with sections of forgery, false declaration among others of BNS.

"It was discovered that the partners of the aforementioned companies had illegally procured and exported 1-Boc-4-piperidone (N-Boc-4- piperidone) and 4-piperidone, which are used in the production of the banned drug Fentanyl. These substances have been placed on the Red List by the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and are also listed under the International Special Surveillance List (ISSL) by India's Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN)," ATS said in a statement.

The two suspects, ATS said, had "concealed the shipment from the Customs Department and international narcotics agencies, and were exporting precursors used for manufacturing the banned psychotropic substance Fentanyl via air cargo."

Deputy Inspector General of Police, ATS, Sunil Joshi told DH, "This is one-of-a-kind cases in which the suspects have been booked for conspiracy and preparation under NDPS."

He said that these companies were attempting to export the contraband after procuring them from local companies using fake end-user certificates and forged invoices. The suspects had prepared to procure and export banned psychotropic controlled substances - ANPP and NPP- using forged invoices.

This shipment was seized nearly four months ago. Investigation revealed that the suspect created "fake end-user certificates to purchase precursor chemicals. They mislabelled parcels containing key precursors used to manufacture the banned psychotropic substance Fentanyl and used fake invoices as genuine documents," the agency said.

Earlier on January 6, Athos and another Surat-based firm Raxuter Chemicals and promoter of Raxuter, Bhavesh Lathiya, were indicted in the United States for criminal conspiracy to import and distribute Fentanyl precursor chemicals to the US and Mexico. ATS sources said that Lathiya was once associated with firms which have been busted.

Fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, is the deadliest drug threat currently facing the United States. It is a highly addictive synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.