NEW DELHI: The US embassy in New Delhi has revoked and subsequently denied visas for some Indian business executives and corporate leaders based on their involvement in trafficking fentanyl precursors, the embassy said in a statement on Thursday.

Fentanyl precursors refer to the basic or parent chemicals that form fentanyl, a leading cause of US overdose deaths. The statement from the embassy did not name the people affected, but a spokesperson said they were Indian nationals.

Indian government officials have been closely cooperating with US counterparts to combat the challenge of drug trafficking, the US embassy added in its statement. US President Donald Trump, whose punitive 50 per cent tariffs on Indian imports hurt bilateral ties, has previously imposed additional levies on imports from China, Mexico and Canada, saying they facilitated the flow of fentanyl into the US.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2025