Man from India arrested in Texas for allegedly selling fake cancer treatment drugs to people in the US

A man was arrested in Houston, Texas, on allegations he sold and shipped counterfeit cancer drugs worth tens of thousands of dollars to people in the U.S.

Sanjay Kumar, 43, of Bihar, India, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday.

He was arrested on Friday in Houston while he was in the U.S. to negotiate additional deals to expand his illicit business of selling fake oncology pharmaceuticals in the U.S., according to the U.S. Justice Department.

SINALOA CARTEL CO-FOUNDER 'EL MAYO' TAKEN INTO US CUSTODY

Kumar and his co-conspirators are accused of orchestrating the sale and shipment of counterfeit versions of Keytruda and other oncology pharmaceuticals to unsuspecting people in the U.S.

The DOJ said genuine Keytruda is a cancer immunotherapy that is approved in the U.S. for 19 different indications, including for treatment of lung cancer, head and neck cancer, gastric cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma and melanoma.

MEDICAL EXAMINER IDENTIFIES REMAINS FOUND IN UTAH CANYON AS MISSING TEXAS WOMAN

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC has the exclusive right to manufacture and distribute Keytruda in the U.S., according to the DOJ.

Kumar is charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit drugs and four counts of trafficking in counterfeit drugs. If convicted, he could face as many as 20 years in prison on each count.

Josh Hartnett left Hollywood after struggling with 'borderline unhealthy' attention from fans

Josh Hartnett put his peace of mind over his career years ago when he discreetly left Hollywood in the pursuit of a quieter lifestyle.

The "Trap" star turned down two major superhero movie roles during the peak of his stardom. Shortly after earning a minor role in the 1999 cult classic Sofia Coppola hit, "The Virgin Suicides," Hartnett broke into the film world in a major way, starring in nine movies alone in 2001, including "Pearl Harbor" and "Black Hawk Down."

When it came to pinpointing a specific reason why Hartnett stepped back from the spotlight, he told The Guardian there wasn't a linear distinction between "happy Josh and unhappy Josh."

"People’s attention to me at the time was borderline unhealthy," Hartnett said.

MATT DAMON'S ADVICE TO JOSH HARTNETT WHILE FILMING 'OPPENHEIMER' WAS 'SO HELPFUL'

When asked to clarify whose attention, he added, "Well, look, I don’t want to give this a lot of weight. There were incidents. People showed up at my house. People that were stalking me."

Hartnett was 27 years old when, "a guy showed up at one of my premieres with a gun, claiming to be my father. He ended up in prison."

He added, "There were lots of things. It was a weird time. And I wasn’t going to be grist for the mill."

The "Oppenheimer" star now spends his time between the United Kingdom and the states, although he's living in the UK on a marriage visa which only allows him to leave the country for a maximum of 180 days per year. 

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Hartnett began dating British actress Tamsin Egerton in 2012 after meeting on set, and the couple secretly married in 2021. 

"This is all brand new to me," he said of his mostly anonymous life in Hampshire. "I never would have expected it. And time passes quickly. With four children, you have so much to do. In a way, less is happening. But more of the important stuff is happening."

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

He added, "My oldest daughter is eight and a half now – that feels like it happened in the last two years to me. So I’m trying to soak up as much as possible."

Hartnett never gave up his love for acting, but stepped back from the spotlight which blinded so many. He left Los Angeles, moved back to his home state of Minnesota, and pursued more challenging, yet smaller projects. 

"I just didn’t want my life to be swallowed up by my work," he said. "And there was a notion at that time you just kind of give it all up. And you saw what happened to some people back then. They got obliterated by it. I didn’t want that for myself."

Hartnett has a number of projects in the works, including "The Long Home" directed by James Franco, the action thriller "Fight or Flight," and "The Last Draw of Jack Hearts."