U.S. intelligence report flags India, China as key sources of drug trafficking equipment, chemicals

A file picture of fentanyl is used for representational purpose.
| Photo Credit: AP

A U.S. intelligence report has named India and China as “sources of precursors and equipment for drug traffickers” and the primary source country for illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals and pill pressing equipment.”

The ‘2025 Annual Threat Assessment (ATA)‘, released on Tuesday (March 25, 2025), is the Intelligence Community’s (IC) official, coordinated evaluation of an array of threats to U.S. citizens, the homeland, and U.S. interests in the world.

Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids remain the most lethal drugs trafficked into the United States, causing more than 52,000 U.S. deaths in a 12-month period ending in October 2024, it said.

Fentanyl is a potent opioid drug that is blamed for widespread drug addiction in the U.S. The Trump administration has initiated a crackdown on illegal import of fentanyl and also linked it with tariffs adjustments in case of some countries.

Some transnational criminal organisations (TCOs) are producing and trafficking large amounts of illicit drugs that are imperiling American lives and livelihoods, the report said.

Also read: U.S. and China launch talks on fentanyl trafficking in a sign of cooperation amid differences

Mexico-based TCOs—including the Sinaloa Cartel and the New Generation Jalisco Cartel—remain the dominant producers and suppliers of illicit drugs, including fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and South American-sourced cocaine, for the U.S. market, the report said.

However, it added, “Non-state groups are often enabled, both directly and indirectly, by state actors, such as China and India as sources of precursors and equipment for drug traffickers”.

“China remains the primary source country for illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals and pill pressing equipment, followed by India,” it said.

Cartels are largely responsible for the more than 52,000 U.S. deaths from synthetic opioids in the 12 months ending in October 2024 and helped facilitate the nearly three million illegal migrant arrivals in 2024, straining resources and putting U.S. communities at risk, the report pointed out.

Last week, an India-based chemical manufacturing company and three of its high-level employees were charged in a federal court in Washington, D.C. in a case related to illegally importing precursor chemicals used to make illicit fentanyl. Federal agents also arrested two of the top ranking employees of a Hyderabad-based company in New York City on Thursday (March 20, 2025).

The report also flagged ‘Transnational Islamic Extremists’ and said, “ISIS’s most aggressive” branches, including ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), and its entrepreneurial plotters will continue to seek to attack the West, including the United States, via online outreach and propaganda aimed at directing, enabling, or inspiring attacks, and could exploit vulnerable travel routes.

In South Asia, Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) operations in recent years have focused exclusively on targeting Pakistan, probably to avoid drawing more counter-terrorism pressure, it said.

However, it observed, “TTP’s capabilities, historical ties to al-Qaida, and previous support to operations targeting the United States keep us concerned about the potential future threat. Anti-India groups, including Lashkar-e Tayyiba, similarly concern us in part because of their historical links with al-Qaida.”