Nfi there's plenty of old wives tales from before the time when you could google it and be like "oi gran your talking sh*t" that effect how we do business today. This is probably one of them?
I'm willing to be cynical and conspiratorial, but this doesn't add up for me. There are so many players between "large construction firms in the USA" and "sand mafia in India" that I find it hard to believe that this is the action of a global cartel. Unless large construction firms in the USA specifically are also run by the sand mafia, which of course is possible, but would be a hell of an exposé if anyone ever caught on.