US names India, China as ‘primary sources’ of illicit fentanyl trafficking

The United States has named India and China as “state actors” facilitating the direct and indirect supply of precursor chemicals and equipment used by drug traffickers, along with being the primary source for illicit fentanyl.

“A diverse set of foreign actors are targeting US health and safety, critical infrastructure, industries, wealth, and government,” Washington said in its 2025 Annual Threat Assessment report released on Tuesday by the office of the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

The report is an evaluation of global threats to US interests. It highlighted the growing role of several countries in supplying materials that were fuelling the fentanyl crisis in the US.

Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids caused more than 52,000 deaths in the US in a 12-month period ending in October 2024, said the report. It added that certain transnational criminal organisations were producing and trafficking large amounts of illicit drugs that were endangering the lives and livelihoods of US citizens.

“Mexico-based TCOs [transnational criminal organisations] – 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 US market,” said the report.

It noted, however, that non-state groups were often enabled directly...

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