New York
Indian companies charged with smuggling chemicals used in making fentanyl
NEW YORK (AP) — Two pharmaceutical companies based in India were charged Monday with smuggling chemicals used in the production of the deadly drug fentanyl, federal prosecutors in New York announced.
Raxuter Chemicals and Athos Chemicals were charged in separate indictments with criminal conspiracy to distribute and import chemicals into the U.S., Mexico and elsewhere knowing they would be used to manufacture the synthetic opioid, according to U.S. District Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace’s office.
Bhavesh Lathiya, a founder and senior executive of Raxuter Chemicals, was also indicted on similar charges.
The 36-year-old executive, who also goes by “Bhavesh Patel” and “Bhavesh Bhai,” was arrested Saturday in New York City and ordered detained at his arraignment in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors said.
His public defender declined to comment Monday. Representatives for the two companies didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment about the indictments.
Lathiya previously worked at Athos as a director until 2022 before leaving to start Raxuter, according to Peace’s office.
Prosecutors say the companies, both located in Surat, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat, smuggled into the U.S. and Mexico all the materials necessary for the manufacture of fentanyl, which federal authorities say is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
The companies employed deceptive and fraudulent practices to avoid detection, such as mislabeling packages, falsifying customs forms and making false declarations at border crossings, prosecutors said.
One such package sent to New York City last June by Raxuter Chemicals had a false manifest listing its contents as Vitamin C, they said. In another instance, Lathiya’s company purposefully mislabeled another fentanyl chemical as an antacid, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said the violent Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican drug trafficking groups use chemicals such as those shipped by the two companies to produce the highly addictive drug on a massive scale in their clandestine laboratories.
“We made a promise that the Justice Department would never forget the victims of the fentanyl epidemic, and that we would never stop working to hold accountable those who bear responsibility for it — that is what we have done, and that is what we will continue to do,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the indictments.
Washington
Seattle police officer who struck and killed graduate student from India fired
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle’s interim police chief said Monday that she has fired a police officer who in 2023 struck and killed a graduate student from India while responding to an overdose call.
Interim police chief Sue Rahr, in an email to employees, said she fired Kevin Dave after the Seattle Office of Police Accountability found he had violated four department policies, including one that calls for being responsible for safely operating a patrol vehicle, the Seattle Times reported.
“I believe the officer did not intend to hurt anyone that night and that he was trying to get to a possible overdose victim as quickly as possible,” Rahr wrote. “However, I cannot accept the tragic consequences of his dangerous driving. His positive intent does not mitigate the poor decision that caused the loss of a human life and brought discredit to the Seattle Police Department.”
A message sent to the Seattle Police Officers Guild, a police union, via the group’s website by The Associated Press was not immediately returned. Attempts to reach Dave were not successful.
Rahr’s announcement comes nearly a year after King County prosecutors said they would not file felony charges against Dave, citing insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dave was consciously disregarding safety in the crash that killed Jaahnavi Kandula.
The Seattle City Attorney’s Office later issued Dave a $5,000 citation for negligent driving. City prosecutors said Dave was driving as fast as 74 mph (119 kph) on a street with a 25-mph (40 kph) speed limit before striking Kandula. After initially contesting the ticket, Dave recently agreed to pay it, complete an eight-hour traffic safety course within a year and do 40 hours of community service by Sept. 30, records filed in municipal court show.
Kandula’s death ignited outrage, particularly after a recording from another officer’s body-worn camera surfaced, in which that officer laughed and suggested Kandula’s life had “limited value” and the city should “just write a check.” Diplomats from India sought an investigation. The city’s civilian watchdog found the comments by Officer Daniel Auderer, who was a union leader, damaged the department’s reputation and undermined public trust. Auderer was later fired.
Kandula’s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city and Dave.
California
Lopez and Affleck seek judge’s okay of divorce settlement
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have settled their divorce and are asking a judge to finalize their breakup.
Lopez filed documents Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court that show the former couple settled their divorce through mediation in September, about a month after she filed for divorce.
While most of the financial details of their split were not publicly filed, neither star will pay the other spousal support. Lopez will drop Affleck from her legal name once the divorce is finalized.
The superstar couple married in July 2022. Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024, although the couple said in court filings that they separated in April 2023.
After meeting, falling in love and getting engaged in the early 2000s — and starring together in 2003’s infamous “Gigli” and 2004’s “Jersey Girl” — the couple parted ways, blaming in part the pressure of the public eye.
But to the delight of many and perhaps the skepticism of others, they reunited two decades later and married.
Records filed Monday show the pair resolved the financial aspects of their divorce through mediation and without long-drawn-out proceedings in court.
The couple have no children together. Affleck divorced Jennifer Garner, with whom he has three children, in 2018. Lopez has been married four times and has twins with singer Marc Anthony.
The settlement documents were first reported by celebrity website TMZ.
Indian companies charged with smuggling chemicals used in making fentanyl
NEW YORK (AP) — Two pharmaceutical companies based in India were charged Monday with smuggling chemicals used in the production of the deadly drug fentanyl, federal prosecutors in New York announced.
Raxuter Chemicals and Athos Chemicals were charged in separate indictments with criminal conspiracy to distribute and import chemicals into the U.S., Mexico and elsewhere knowing they would be used to manufacture the synthetic opioid, according to U.S. District Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace’s office.
Bhavesh Lathiya, a founder and senior executive of Raxuter Chemicals, was also indicted on similar charges.
The 36-year-old executive, who also goes by “Bhavesh Patel” and “Bhavesh Bhai,” was arrested Saturday in New York City and ordered detained at his arraignment in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors said.
His public defender declined to comment Monday. Representatives for the two companies didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment about the indictments.
Lathiya previously worked at Athos as a director until 2022 before leaving to start Raxuter, according to Peace’s office.
Prosecutors say the companies, both located in Surat, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat, smuggled into the U.S. and Mexico all the materials necessary for the manufacture of fentanyl, which federal authorities say is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
The companies employed deceptive and fraudulent practices to avoid detection, such as mislabeling packages, falsifying customs forms and making false declarations at border crossings, prosecutors said.
One such package sent to New York City last June by Raxuter Chemicals had a false manifest listing its contents as Vitamin C, they said. In another instance, Lathiya’s company purposefully mislabeled another fentanyl chemical as an antacid, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said the violent Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican drug trafficking groups use chemicals such as those shipped by the two companies to produce the highly addictive drug on a massive scale in their clandestine laboratories.
“We made a promise that the Justice Department would never forget the victims of the fentanyl epidemic, and that we would never stop working to hold accountable those who bear responsibility for it — that is what we have done, and that is what we will continue to do,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the indictments.
Washington
Seattle police officer who struck and killed graduate student from India fired
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle’s interim police chief said Monday that she has fired a police officer who in 2023 struck and killed a graduate student from India while responding to an overdose call.
Interim police chief Sue Rahr, in an email to employees, said she fired Kevin Dave after the Seattle Office of Police Accountability found he had violated four department policies, including one that calls for being responsible for safely operating a patrol vehicle, the Seattle Times reported.
“I believe the officer did not intend to hurt anyone that night and that he was trying to get to a possible overdose victim as quickly as possible,” Rahr wrote. “However, I cannot accept the tragic consequences of his dangerous driving. His positive intent does not mitigate the poor decision that caused the loss of a human life and brought discredit to the Seattle Police Department.”
A message sent to the Seattle Police Officers Guild, a police union, via the group’s website by The Associated Press was not immediately returned. Attempts to reach Dave were not successful.
Rahr’s announcement comes nearly a year after King County prosecutors said they would not file felony charges against Dave, citing insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dave was consciously disregarding safety in the crash that killed Jaahnavi Kandula.
The Seattle City Attorney’s Office later issued Dave a $5,000 citation for negligent driving. City prosecutors said Dave was driving as fast as 74 mph (119 kph) on a street with a 25-mph (40 kph) speed limit before striking Kandula. After initially contesting the ticket, Dave recently agreed to pay it, complete an eight-hour traffic safety course within a year and do 40 hours of community service by Sept. 30, records filed in municipal court show.
Kandula’s death ignited outrage, particularly after a recording from another officer’s body-worn camera surfaced, in which that officer laughed and suggested Kandula’s life had “limited value” and the city should “just write a check.” Diplomats from India sought an investigation. The city’s civilian watchdog found the comments by Officer Daniel Auderer, who was a union leader, damaged the department’s reputation and undermined public trust. Auderer was later fired.
Kandula’s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city and Dave.
California
Lopez and Affleck seek judge’s okay of divorce settlement
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have settled their divorce and are asking a judge to finalize their breakup.
Lopez filed documents Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court that show the former couple settled their divorce through mediation in September, about a month after she filed for divorce.
While most of the financial details of their split were not publicly filed, neither star will pay the other spousal support. Lopez will drop Affleck from her legal name once the divorce is finalized.
The superstar couple married in July 2022. Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024, although the couple said in court filings that they separated in April 2023.
After meeting, falling in love and getting engaged in the early 2000s — and starring together in 2003’s infamous “Gigli” and 2004’s “Jersey Girl” — the couple parted ways, blaming in part the pressure of the public eye.
But to the delight of many and perhaps the skepticism of others, they reunited two decades later and married.
Records filed Monday show the pair resolved the financial aspects of their divorce through mediation and without long-drawn-out proceedings in court.
The couple have no children together. Affleck divorced Jennifer Garner, with whom he has three children, in 2018. Lopez has been married four times and has twins with singer Marc Anthony.
The settlement documents were first reported by celebrity website TMZ.
