Perfume in car mistaken for opium; Indian man arrested in US, visa revoked, faces deportation

An Indian-origin man in Arkansas is fighting to restore his US visa after a shocking case of mistaken identity led to his arrest and possible deportation, all over a bottle of perfume.

Mistaken for opium

Kapil Raghu, who was living legally in the US and married to an American citizen, was pulled over by Benton police on May 3 for a minor traffic violation while making a food delivery. During the stop, officers found a small bottle labelled "Opium" in his vehicle’s center console.

Despite Raghu’s insistence that the bottle was simply designer perfume, not narcotics, police assumed it was an illegal substance and arrested him for drug possession. Bodycam footage reportedly shows officers saying, “You got a vial of opium that was in your centre console.”

Charges dropped, but visa revoked

Lab tests later confirmed that the substance in the bottle was indeed just perfume. The drug charges were dropped on May 20. However, the arrest triggered a deeper legal issue: immigration officials flagged his visa as expired—an issue Raghu says was due to his previous lawyer’s failure to file paperwork on time.

Raghu spent three days in the Saline County jail before being transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, where he was held for 30 days. During that time, his visa was revoked, stripping him of his legal right to work and placing him under deportation threat.

Impact on family

Raghu’s attorney, Mike Laux, says the situation has left his client in a vulnerable position. "Though released, Kapil now has a deportation status. He can be deported for even a minor offense, like jaywalking,” Laux told The Guardian. “He’s also legally barred from working, which has put immense pressure on the family.”

Raghu and his wife, Alhley Mays, were married in April. She now works three jobs to support their household and cover mounting legal bills.

“The savings we had were for a house. Now it's all gone,” Mays told local media, adding that Raghu missed her daughter's fourth-grade graduation due to his detention. “She sees him as a father figure. It’s been heartbreaking.”

Violation of international protocols

Laux also alleges that local authorities failed to notify the Indian Consulate following Raghu's arrest—an apparent violation of the Vienna Convention, which guarantees foreign nationals the right to consular assistance when detained.

In a letter sent to ICE’s legal office, Raghu explained that the visa issue stemmed from an administrative error and has requested his legal status be restored. So far, the Department of Homeland Security has not commented on the case.

The ordeal has deeply impacted Raghu's mental health and shaken his wife’s sense of security. “It was just cologne,” she said. “Now, when a police car is behind me, I panic. I’m constantly afraid.”