Overview
- The State Department, which announced the step Tuesday, barred entry to 13 close business associates of KS International Traders and its owner under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of U.S. immigration law.
- Officials linked the action to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14367 that labels illicit fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction to unlock tools such as visa restrictions.
- U.S. agencies allege the Mumbai-based online pharmacy sold hundreds of thousands of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl to Americans through websites and encrypted messaging.
- Treasury sanctioned KS International Traders, Sadiq Abbas Habib Sayyed, and owner Khizar Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh in September 2024, and New York prosecutors indicted Shaikh later that year.
- U.S. officials cast the step as part of joint efforts with India to dismantle trafficking networks and warned that people who help traffic fentanyl will be denied entry to the United States.