On September 24, 2025, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Indian nationals Sadiq Abbas Habib Sayyed and Khizar Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh, along with KS International Traders—also known as “KS Pharmacy” and owned by Shaikh. According to Treasury, the designations target their role in running a large-scale network that distributed hundreds of thousands of counterfeit prescription medications. While marketed as legitimate pharmaceuticals, the pills were laced with fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, methamphetamine, and other dangerous substances. These counterfeit products were shipped to buyers across the United States, directly fueling the country’s opioid and synthetic drug crisis.
According to OFAC, Sayyed and Shaikh collaborated with narcotics traffickers operating both in the Dominican Republic and within the United States, establishing a transnational supply chain for counterfeit medications. They misrepresented their products as discounted versions of legitimate drugs, deceiving customers into believing they were purchasing safe, regulated pharmaceuticals. In reality, the pills contained highly addictive and life-threatening narcotics. To avoid detection and facilitate sales, both individuals relied heavily on encrypted messaging platforms, which they used not only to communicate with criminal associates but also to market and advertise their illicit products to US buyers.
As part of the enforcement action, OFAC also designated a cryptocurrency wallet tied to Sayyed, highlighting how the network relied on digital assets to launder proceeds and facilitate payments connected to drug trafficking.
India is a global leader in pharmaceutical production, a sector that forms a cornerstone of its economy. Yet the country’s supply chain is heavily dependent on China, which provides the majority of its active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). China remains the world’s largest API producer, with chemical and pharmaceutical firms capable of manufacturing both legitimate medicines and illicit substances—including fentanyl precursors—an issue repeatedly underscored in DOJ indictments and OFAC designations. While India is often viewed primarily as a hub for legitimate pharmaceutical manufacturing, it too possesses the industrial capacity to produce not only regulated medicines but also a wide spectrum of chemical precursors and controlled substances.
Today’s OFAC designation underscores that India not only has the capability but also the potential to play a significant role in the manufacture of chemical precursors used to produce illicit substances such as fentanyl, synthetic opioids, and amphetamines.
The action against Sayyed, Shaikh, and KS Pharmacy is part of a broader campaign by OFAC to target the synthetic drug trade at every stage of the supply chain. In recent months, Treasury has designated Chinese chemical manufacturers producing fentanyl precursors, Mexican and Dominican networks distributing finished product, and now Indian actors supplying counterfeit pills laced with deadly narcotics. By pairing sanctions with the identification of cryptocurrency wallets, OFAC is making clear that both the chemical inputs and the financial flows behind the fentanyl epidemic will be traced and disrupted.
At TRM, we are working alongside global law enforcement and regulators to map these networks—across borders, across blockchains, and across the supply chains that connect them. From precursor manufacturers to online pharmacies, TRM data and analytics help expose how digital assets are used to move and launder proceeds, providing actionable intelligence for investigators and compliance teams. The synthetic drug crisis is global in nature, but so too are the tools now being deployed against it.
TRM will continue to expand its coverage of entities involved in precursor production across both China and India, helping illuminate the networks that enable the global synthetic drug trade.
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