An Indian national living in the United States has been fighting to restore his visa status after being wrongfully arrested when officers mistook his perfume bottle labeled &ldquo;Opium&rdquo; for an illegal narcotic.
For Kapil Raghu, what began as a routine traffic stop in Arkansas turned into a 30-day nightmare in immigration custody. The man, married to an American woman and working toward US citizenship, was detained on May 3.
Raghu was delivering pizzas in Arkansas when he was pulled over for having a reflective cover on his license plate. &ldquo;I was not doing anything wrong when he pulled me over. I was following all regulations,&rdquo; Raghu said. &ldquo;The problem was he didn&rsquo;t know for what cause he was arresting me. I asked what the arrest was for. I didn&rsquo;t even know what I did wrong.&rdquo;
When officers searched his car, they found a small bottle labeled Opium. One of the officers told him, &ldquo;You got a vial of opium that was in your center console. Go and take a seat.&rdquo;
Raghu said he immediately clarified that the bottle contained cologne, not drugs. However, the police refused to believe him and took him into custody.
Tests later confirmed that the bottle indeed contained perfume and not any controlled substance. Despite that, Raghu spent three days in Saline County Jail before being transferred to federal immigration custody after authorities discovered his visitor visa had expired.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained him at a facility in Louisiana for 30 days. His wife, Ashley Mays, said the couple had already been working to correct his visa status before his arrest.
&ldquo;Despite cooperating fully, my husband was arrested, jailed, and then transferred to ICE custody on May 6th, 2025. This was especially devastating because we already had an immigration attorney before his visa ever expired we were actively working to fix his status the right way,&rdquo; she said.
Raghu was finally released in June, but the incident has left lasting consequences. Although all charges against him were dropped, the detention has placed him under a &ldquo;deportation&rdquo; status, which could threaten his future in the United States.
&ldquo;It is my understanding that, though released, Kapil now has a &lsquo;deportation&rsquo; status, meaning he can be immediately deported for any minor offense, even jaywalking,&rdquo; said his attorney, Mike Laux. &ldquo;But, more crucially, this classification bars him from working and earning money for his family, which has been devastating for them.&rdquo;
Kapil Raghu now faces the challenge of rebuilding his life and fighting to restore his immigration status after a wrongful arrest that stemmed from a simple misunderstanding over a bottle of perfume.

Indian Man Jailed, US Over ‘Opium’ Perfume Mix-Up

Kapil Raghu spent 30 days in ICE custody after police mistook his cologne for narcotics

Indian Man Jailed, US Over ‘Opium’ Perfume Mix-Up

Kapil Raghu spent 30 days in ICE custody after police mistook his cologne for narcotics

October 7, 2025 | 21:19 IST