US slaps visa restrictions on 13 linked to India-based KS Pharmacy amid a fentanyl crackdown
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott announced Tuesday that the restrictions target individuals associated with KS International Traders and its owner
- May 13, 2026,
- Updated May 13, 2026 11:58 AM IST
The United States has imposed visa restrictions on 13 people linked to an India-based online pharmacy already under sanctions for shipping fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills to Americans.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott announced Tuesday that the restrictions target individuals associated with KS International Traders and its owner. "The US Department of State is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on 13 individuals associated with KS International Traders and its owner, which has sold counterfeit prescriptions laced with illicit fentanyl to unsuspecting Americans in our country," he said.
Fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction
The pharmacy generated revenue through fentanyl trafficking, a substance President Donald Trump designated a Weapon of Mass Destruction under an executive order. The visa action was taken under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Pigott framed the move as part of a broader bilateral effort. "This action underscores the United States' and India's enduring and shared commitment to dismantling illicit drug entities and disrupting trafficking networks that harm Americans. Those complicit in poisoning Americans will be denied entry to the United States," he said.
Sanctions that set the stage
The latest restrictions build on actions taken last September, when the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Indian nationals, Sadiq Abbas Habib Sayyed and Khizar Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh, along with KS International Traders, the online pharmacy Shaikh ran. Both men allegedly worked with traffickers in the US and the Dominican Republic to pass off counterfeit pills, laced with fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and methamphetamine, as legitimate pharmaceuticals.
The supply chain behind the pills
The pressure on India-linked fentanyl networks has continued since. Last month, OFAC sanctioned Satishkumar Hareshbhai Sutaria, a pharmaceutical chemicals supplier, accused of trading in fentanyl precursors destined for illicit production in Mexico and Guatemala. Sutaria allegedly worked with salesperson Yuktakumari Ashishkumar Modi, using two India-based firms, SR Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals and Agrat Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, to conduct the transactions. Indian authorities arrested both in March 2025.
The United States has imposed visa restrictions on 13 people linked to an India-based online pharmacy already under sanctions for shipping fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills to Americans.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott announced Tuesday that the restrictions target individuals associated with KS International Traders and its owner. "The US Department of State is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on 13 individuals associated with KS International Traders and its owner, which has sold counterfeit prescriptions laced with illicit fentanyl to unsuspecting Americans in our country," he said.
Fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction
The pharmacy generated revenue through fentanyl trafficking, a substance President Donald Trump designated a Weapon of Mass Destruction under an executive order. The visa action was taken under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Pigott framed the move as part of a broader bilateral effort. "This action underscores the United States' and India's enduring and shared commitment to dismantling illicit drug entities and disrupting trafficking networks that harm Americans. Those complicit in poisoning Americans will be denied entry to the United States," he said.
Sanctions that set the stage
The latest restrictions build on actions taken last September, when the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Indian nationals, Sadiq Abbas Habib Sayyed and Khizar Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh, along with KS International Traders, the online pharmacy Shaikh ran. Both men allegedly worked with traffickers in the US and the Dominican Republic to pass off counterfeit pills, laced with fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and methamphetamine, as legitimate pharmaceuticals.
The supply chain behind the pills
The pressure on India-linked fentanyl networks has continued since. Last month, OFAC sanctioned Satishkumar Hareshbhai Sutaria, a pharmaceutical chemicals supplier, accused of trading in fentanyl precursors destined for illicit production in Mexico and Guatemala. Sutaria allegedly worked with salesperson Yuktakumari Ashishkumar Modi, using two India-based firms, SR Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals and Agrat Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, to conduct the transactions. Indian authorities arrested both in March 2025.