Indian National Pleads Guilty to Counterfeit Cancer Drug Smuggling

HOUSTON – In a grim twist of justice, a 45-year-old Indian national named Sanjay Kumar has pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell and ship counterfeit oncology pharmaceuticals into the United States. The revelation comes from U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

The scheme, which spanned from August 2018 to June 2024, saw Kumar and his accomplices arrange the sale and trafficking of fake versions of the life-saving cancer drug Keytruda. This fraudulent operation netted tens of thousands of dollars in illegal profits.

Keytruda is a vital FDA-approved immunotherapy used for treating melanoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, lung, head and neck, gastric, cervical, and breast cancers. However, the counterfeit versions sold by Kumar were riddled with fake trademarks and lacked the active ingredient necessary to combat cancer. Instead of effective medication, these deadly fakes contained mere fillers and adulterants with no medical benefit. Even the packaging was a fraud, imitating registered marks of the legitimate manufacturer, Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC.

During an undercover operation, Kumar attempted to sell more counterfeit Keytruda. His admission that he knew these drugs would not work is chilling: ‘They’re just like water,’ he described them. This brazen disregard for human life sets a dark tone in this case of criminal negligence.

Sentencing will be imposed by U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal on January 13, at which time Kumar faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. The investigation was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations with the support of the Food and Drug Administration.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman and Trial Attorneys Ethan Cantor, Bryce Rosenbower, and Jeff Pearlman from the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.

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