Indian in US pleads guilty to running online drug racket

An Indian national has pleaded guilty in a US court on charges of running a multimillion- dollar illegal prescription drug operation over the internet.

Zuned Sunesra, 35, hailing from Mumbai, pleaded guilty to the three conspiracy charges before a District Court in Pennsylvania. Prosecutors have requested that he should not be released on fears he could flee the country.

Sunesra and his family operated a network of websites that from 2004 to 2014 were used to sell illegal prescription drugs to more than 40,000 customers around the world, including the US, prosecutors alleged. The websites were used to sell India-made Viagra, Celebrex, Cymbalta and other drugs not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the family's gross monthly sales were US $400,000. They earned millions over the course of the scheme, prosecutors said.