China and India sources for fentanyl inputs: US report

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: A US 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, is the Intelligence Community's (IC) official, coordinated evaluation of an array of threats to US citizens, the homeland, and US interests in the world.

Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids remain the most lethal drugs trafficked into the United States, causing more than 52,000 US 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 US. The Trump administration has initiated a crackdown on illegal import of fentanyl and also linked it with tariffs adjustments in case of some countries.

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

Mexico-based TCOs remain the dominant producers and suppliers of illicit drugs for the US market, it said. "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 added.