NEW DELHI: Non-state groups are often supported both directly and indirectly by state actors, such as China and India, with materials and equipment used by drug traffickers targeting the US, according to the 2025 Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) of the US Intelligence Community.
The report is published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, currently held by Tulsi Gabbard.
According to the report, terrorist and transnational criminal organizations are directly threatening the US citizens. “Cartels are largely responsible for the more than 52,000 U.S. deaths from synthetic opioids in the 12 months ending in October 2024 and helped facilitate the nearly three million illegal migrant arrivals in 2024, straining resources and putting U.S. communities at risk.”
“…A range of cyber and intelligence actors are targeting our wealth, critical infrastructure, telecom, and media. Non-state groups are often enabled, both directly and indirectly, by state actors, such as China and India, as sources of precursors and equipment for drug traffickers,” says the report dated March 25.
It then explains that “State adversaries have weapons that can strike U.S. territory, or disable vital U.S. systems in space, for coercive aims or actual war. These threats reinforce each other, creating a vastly more complex and dangerous security environment.”
The report names India after China, “the primary source country for illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals and pill pressing equipment.” Mexico-based chemical brokers circumvent international controls through mislabeled shipments and the purchase of unregulated dual-use chemicals.
Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as an analgesic (pain relief) and anesthetic. Fighting the trafficking of opioids has been declared a political priority by the Donald Trump administration.
Unlike last year’s assessment, this time India has been placed on the same level as China in the supply of precursor chemicals used by drug cartels to manufacture the opioid fentanyl.
The 2024 threat assessment report had mentioned India as one of several countries that Mexican cartels were sourcing from to a “lesser extent”, with China identified as the primary supplier.
Moscow is increasingly willing to disrupt Western-centric forums like the UN and use non-Western organizations, such as the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), to advocate for policies like de-dollarization, the same report said.
With regard to the terrorist organisations, the report also said anti-India groups, including Lashkar-e Tayyiba,is a concern to the US “in part because of their historical links with al-Qa‘ida.”