Indian-origin man in Arkansas fights to revoke visa after police mistake ‘Opium’ perfume for drugs

An Indian-origin resident in Arkansas, Kapil Raghu, is fighting to have his US visa reinstated after being wrongly arrested when police mistook a designer perfume labelled ‘Opium’ for an illegal drug, as per reports. 

According to reports, on May 3, 2025, Raghu was pulled over by Benton Police for a minor traffic violation while delivering food. During the stop, officers discovered a small bottle marked Opium inside his car and assumed it contained narcotics. Despite Raghu’s repeated explanation that it was simply a perfume, he was arrested on suspicion of drug possession.

Body camera footage reportedly captured one officer telling him, “You got a vial of opium that was in your centre console.” The product in question, Opium, a well-known fragrance first launched in 1977 was later confirmed by the Arkansas State Crime Lab to contain no controlled substances.

Raghu was released from the Saline County Jail after posting bond but was immediately transferred to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody due to unrelated visa overstay issues. He spent nearly a month in a detention facility in Louisiana before being freed on June 3, 2025.

Raghu, who is married to a US citizen and was in the process of obtaining permanent residency, is now unable to work and living under the constant threat of deportation. His attorney has said the family is enduring severe emotional and financial distress as they seek to have his visa reinstated and his record cleared.