Highlights:
- An Indian-origin man’s perfume was mistaken for opium during a traffic stop.
- The arrest led to 30 days in ICE detention and visa revocation.
- The drug charge was later dropped; the perfume was confirmed not to be a narcotic.
- Family facing financial hardship and emotional distress.
- The lawyer alleges police failed to notify the Indian Consulate as required by law.
An Indian-origin man living in Arkansas, US, is facing deportation after police wrongly arrested him for drug possession when they mistook a bottle of designer perfume labeled as 'opium' for the actual drug. Raghu was pulled over by Benton police on May 3 for a minor traffic violation while making a food delivery.
Officers found the perfume in his car and assumed it contained narcotics, despite Rahu explaining that it was a fragrance.
According to The Guardian, bodycam footage from the incident showed an officer saying, “You got a vial of opium that was in your center console.” Raghu was taken into custody and spent three days in the Saline County Jail before being transferred to a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana. The Arkansas State Crime Lab later confirmed that the bottle contained only perfume, not any illegal substance.
Although the drug charge was dropped on May 20, Raghu's problems did not end there. Authorities claimed his visa had expired due to an administrative error. As a result, his visa was revoked, and he was placed under 'deportation' status, meaning he can now be deported for even minor violations. His lawyer, Mike Laux, said this also prevents Raghu from legally working, putting his family under financial strain.
Raghu who is married to an American citizen, said his wife, Alhley Mays, has been working three jobs to cover the expenses after their savings were exhausted on legal fees. The couple married in April, and Raghu said the situation has left them emotionally devastated. “It was just cologne,” Mays said. “Now, if a cop drives behind me, I panic.”
Raghu’s attorney also said that Benton police violated protocol by not informing the Indian Consulate about his arrest, as required under the Vienna Convention. Raghu has now written to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seeking to restore his visa, explaining that the issue arose due to his previous lawyer’s delay in paperwork.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has not yet commented on the case.
