An Indian national has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison in the United States for his involvement in trafficking counterfeit cancer drugs into the country. Sanjay Kumar, originally from Bihar, was arrested in 2024 after travelling to the US to negotiate further shipments as part of the illegal operation.
According to a statement issued by the US Department of Justice, Kumar was sentenced to 43 months in prison on March 5 and will serve an additional one year of supervised release after completing his term. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic counterfeit goods. The sentence was delivered by Lee Rosenthal, a US District Judge based in Houston.
Investigators said Kumar and his associates arranged the shipment and sale of fake versions of oncology medicines, including Keytruda, to buyers in the United States. Keytruda is a widely used immunotherapy drug for cancer treatment manufactured by Merck & Co. through its subsidiary Merck Sharp & Dohme. Authorities said the illegal scheme operated for six years, between June 2014 and August 2018, and resulted in counterfeit oncology drugs worth tens of thousands of dollars being sold in the US.
The Justice Department stated that the fake medicines were packaged to closely resemble authentic Keytruda, including the use of counterfeit trademarks belonging to the original manufacturer, before being shipped from India. Laboratory analysis later confirmed that the seized products were chemically inconsistent with genuine medication. Officials found that the substances contained fillers and adulterants with no therapeutic value, making them ineffective for cancer treatment.
Keytruda is used in the US to treat multiple forms of cancer, including melanoma, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, gastric cancer, cervical cancer, and breast cancer.
Authorities said Kumar and his associates earned approximately $89,268 through the sale of the counterfeit drugs. The operation was uncovered after Kumar travelled to the US in 2024 to expand the illegal business. During his visit, he met undercover federal agents posing as buyers, including officers from Homeland Security Investigations and the US Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations.
As part of the probe, the agents arranged for shipments of the counterfeit drugs to Houston, Texas, where Kumar believed he was meeting business partners to discuss further deals. During these interactions, he allegedly admitted that the medicines were fake and ineffective, reportedly describing them as being “just like water.” He was arrested at the end of the meeting in June 2024 and has remained in federal custody since.
Following his arrest, Kumar was charged with conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit drugs, an offence carrying a potential maximum sentence of 20 years. He later agreed to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge in October 2025.
While pronouncing the sentence, Judge Rosenthal noted the severity of the crime, stating that Kumar had deliberately targeted individuals seeking life-extending treatment and instead supplied worthless products. The case was also reported by Houston-based outlet KHOU 11.
Investigators have not announced charges against any additional suspects so far and have not confirmed whether patients unknowingly received the counterfeit medicines believing them to be genuine.
