Behind Matthew Perry’s deadly trade with LA’s ‘Ketamine Queen’

In August, Sangha was taken into custody by law enforcement agents and accused of providing the ketamine that killed “Friends" TV star Matthew Perry last year and another man in 2019. Federal prosecutors allege that over roughly five years she had become a large-scale drug trafficker in Los Angeles and was known in certain Hollywood circles as the “Ketamine Queen."

To the world, Sangha presented herself in regal fashion. Her Instagram feed shows her jet-setting and dolled up for photo shoots wearing Versace and Louis Vuitton. “Life in plastic it’s fantastic…C’mon Barbie let’s go party!" Sangha wrote in an August 2021 post of herself in designer clothes. She drove a rented Range Rover earlier this year and then leased a 2024 BMW, according to court records.

Acquaintances said they met Sangha, 41 years old, at electronic dance music parties and festivals but didn’t know what she did for a living. Prosecutors allege she positioned herself as a celebrity dealer at the center of the L.A. ketamine craze.

The drug, used in hospital settings as an anesthetic, first spread among users in the rave and club culture for its hallucinogenic effects. In recent years, doctors have provided supervised administration of ketamine as an off-label mental-health treatment.

“Ketamine in Los Angeles is like tequila in Miami," said Mike “Zappy" Zapolin, the founder of KetaVIP. The Beverly Hills, Calif., company helps celebrity clients have the drug prescribed by doctors and administered at home under medical supervision.

Thrill-seekers still rely largely on the illicit drug market.

Bill Bodner, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Los Angeles, said ketamine is popular with celebrities who have become wary of using cocaine. A turning point, he said, was the 2021 deaths of several Hollywood comedians who had ingested cocaine laced with fentanyl.

“Celebrities just got scared and turned their back on cocaine and started seeking out mushrooms, psilocybin and also ketamine," Bodner said.

Five people, including two doctors, were charged in connection with Perry’s death. Sangha, who remains in custody, pleaded not guilty to 10 felony charges that could imprison her for life. Sangha’s lawyers didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Federal prosecutors allege Sangha, who holds U.S. and British citizenship, cared little beyond her own wants, saying in court papers that she was “blithely indifferent to the fact that her ketamine contributed to the overdose deaths." Court documents include text exchanges among those charged in the case, including Sangha.

Perry went into rehabilitation treatment many times over the years to kick his addiction to drugs and alcohol. In his 2022 memoir, he wrote that he had tried daily ketamine infusions while in rehab but didn’t like it because it gave him what felt like a hangover.

By the fall of 2023, he was getting ketamine injections from doctors and desperately sought more of the drug elsewhere.

That was how Perry crossed paths with the Ketamine Queen.

“She only deal[s] with high end and celebs," said a text between their intermediaries. “If it were not great stuff she’d lose her business."

Private life

Sangha, a woman of Indian descent with flowing blonde-colored tresses, attended Calabasas High School, located in an affluent city at the western edge of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine in 2005 and received an M.B.A. from the Hult Business School in London.

She tried her hand at a few businesses. In 2015, Sangha opened a nail salon called Stiletto Nail Bar on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, a pricey Los Angeles neighborhood. An Instagram account for the salon claimed pop singer Ariana Grande was a client. A spokesperson for Grande didn’t respond to requests for comment. The business was closed by 2018.

Maysa Quy, a DJ and music producer, said Sangha recorded vocals for one of Quy’s electronic dance tracks and that they have been close for years. Sangha is “like a sister to me, " Quy said, but she “kept her private life pretty private."

Quy was under the impression that Sangha was involved in art curation, event planning and fashion. She said she heard nothing about drug dealing.

Michael Pollan’s 2018 bestseller “How To Change Your Mind," drew broad attention to the potential medical benefits of psychedelic drugs. During a podcast that year, he said that for people who “can’t wait for psilocybin therapy to be approved for depression, which is still several years away, ketamine is worth exploring."

In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration approved a nasal spray using esketamine, a ketamine derivative, for treatment-resistant depression. Pollan said the decision contributed to more awareness about ketamine in all its forms.

The easing of telemedicine rules during the pandemic helped drive ketamine sales by online medical providers offering home treatment. More doctors at walk-in clinics also started prescribing the drug for off-label purposes.

Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles has delivered more than 30,000 ketamine infusions to more than 6,000 patients since 2014, said Sam Mandel, the company’s co-founder and chief executive. Ketamine infusions, he said, are “the fastest acting, safest, most effective treatment for depression, PTSD and suicidality available today."

Mandel cautioned that the treatment should to be administered by trained, experienced and licensed medical professionals in a therapeutic environment. “If people want to consume in an inappropriate way, we aren’t going to allow that," he said.

Some people use ketamine illicitly to “dissociate as a means of escape, to get out of their minds and bodies," Mandel said, and they “can start to make that a habit, this desire to disappear."

Federal prosecutors allege that by June 2019 Sangha was selling, packaging and manufacturing drugs from her Los Angeles rental. Two months later, she allegedly sold ketamine to 33-year-old Cody McLaury, who died of an overdose that day.

“The ketamine you sold my brother killed him. It’s listed as the cause of death," a family member texted Sangha, according to court records. Sangha then searched Google to see if ketamine could be listed as a cause of death.

Sangha liked to show off her high-end taste. In various photos, she wore what looked like malachite Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra pendant earrings and necklace, a Dior saddle belt bag and Balmain and Gucci T-shirts. She made repeated trips to Mexico, Spain and Dubai, court papers said.

Sangha and her uncle, Paul Singh, regularly appeared together in photos on Instagram, including a 2022 group shot of Sangha with actor Charlie Sheen. Singh didn’t respond to requests for comment. Sheen’s attorney didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Through a web of connections, Perry found Sangha, according to the federal indictment and other court papers that alleged how it happened:

Erik Fleming, who has worked as a Hollywood producer and director, learned from a mutual friend that Perry was trying to buy ketamine. Fleming contacted Perry and offered to sell him some. Perry passed Fleming’s number to his live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa to sort it out.

“Hey Erik, Alfred here batmans butler He said I can text you directly. How much do you want per bottle and what is the nice tip you want," Iwamasa texted Fleming on Oct. 10.

That day, the FDA issued a warning about the risks of using compounded ketamine to treat psychiatric disorders. The agency said it “has not determined that ketamine is safe and effective for such uses" and had concerns about abuse of the drug.

On Oct. 28, Perry was found dead in the hot tub at his home in L.A.’s Pacific Palisades “from the acute effects of ketamine," according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.

After the news broke that day, Sangha called Fleming on Signal and told him to delete their messages.

‘Master chef’

In February, four months after Perry’s death, Sangha traveled to Playa del Carmen and joined Perla Hudson, the ex-wife of Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, and others, including Greg Lansky, the founder of Vixen Media Group.

Sangha posted highlights of the trip on Instagram, starting with caviar and Champagne in a private luxury terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. From Mexico, she posted poolside scenes with an ocean view and a pre-breakfast intravenous drip, a common hangover and dehydration treatment.

Sangha and Hudson appeared to have had a close relationship over the past decade, according to their social-media exchanges. They referred to one another as sisters and best friends. Hudson in one Instagram post called Sangha her “Tandoori Barbie." Hudson made references to Sangha as the godmother to her and Slash’s sons. Hudson declined to comment.

In March, federal agents raided Sangha’s two-bedroom apartment in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles. They seized cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms, counterfeit pills containing methamphetamine and 79 vials of ketamine.

Federal agents found a handwritten journal detailing thousands of dollars in drug transactions. They seized two cellphones, including one showing videos of Sangha “cooking" ketamine on her stove, as well as conversations about drug orders and shipments on an encrypted chat app, according to court papers.

Ketamine seized from Sangha’s apartment matched vials sold to both Perry and McLaury, according to court records.

Sangha was in custody for two days before she was released on a $100,000 bond secured by her mother, Nilem Sangha, who had operated Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in California. The restaurants later closed, according to a 2011 lawsuit settlement with the KFC Corporation. Nilem Sangha didn’t respond to requests for comment.

On Aug. 15, authorities returned to arrest Jasveen Sangha. Federal prosecutors asked the court to keep Sangha in custody pending trial, saying she was a flight risk.

Bodner, the former DEA agent, said federal authorities were likely seeking where Sangha got her drugs. She referred to her supplier as the “scientist" and “master chef," according to court documents.

Fleming and Iwamasa have both pleaded guilty to felony charges and said they would testify about their ketamine sources. Attorneys for Fleming and Iwamasa didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Some of Sangha’s friends and acquaintances said they were surprised to learn of her connection with Perry’s death. “I know her as a girl that frequents events, but not as a drug dealer," said Nicole Russo, who called her a “sweetie pie."

The two women had met around the club scene about 15 years ago, Russo said, and “I don’t know how she ended up where she is now."

“I had only seen her at a few parties," said Stephanie Carpentieri, a former actress.

They were introduced through a mutual acquaintance about 12 years ago. She recalled going to Sangha’s birthday pool party at the time but said she hadn’t spoken with her in at least a decade.

“She seemed lovely," Carpentieri said.

Lisa Schwartz contributed to this article.