An Indian immigrant who was working as a delivery driver was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after police officers in central Arkansas mistook a bottle of perfume labeled “Opium” as the narcotic drug of the same name. He is fighting to stay in the U.S. and for his case to be dismissed.

Now barred from legally working in the U.S. and facing potential removal, Kapil Raghu, a 28-year-old who is married to a U.S. citizen, sent a letter last week to ICE, pleading with the agency to use its prosecutorial discretion to dismiss the case. He’s hoping it will recognize the circumstances around his arrest.

Raghu was arrested in May after an officer from the Benton Police Department spotted the rollerball perfume bottle in his car during a routine traffic stop. Raghu had been on an expired visa. He said he had tried to keep his status current by retaining an immigration lawyer to help before the expiration date, but the attorney, who no longer works with him, didn’t file the paperwork in time. He was sent to ICE detention after the arrest revealed his immigration status, his current attorneys said.

Raghu was released from ICE custody after nearly a month and all charges have since been dropped, but he was placed in deportation proceedings.

“I’m extremely depressed,” Raghu told NBC News. “I can’t work at all or make my family happy.”

ICE did not return NBC News’ request for comment.

In his letter, Raghu, who has a stepdaughter, detailed significant legal and financial burdens on his family that were prompted by the misunderstanding around the perfume bottle. He also wrote that if his deportation proceedings were dismissed, he would have the opportunity to obtain lawful immigration status through the proper legal channels.

“This situation has shaken me and my family, but it has also reinforced my determination to move forward in a positive direction,” Raghu said. “All I ask for is the chance to continue that journey without further hardships.”

Roughly five months ago, Raghu, a delivery driver, had just finished an order when he was pulled over, he said. According to a police report, the officer initially stopped him because his license plate cover obscured the plate information, which is prohibited in Arkansas. The officer then asked Raghu for consent to search the car, the report said.

“I gave him consent because when you see a cop, you’re a little bit scared,” Raghu said. “Like, ‘Why are all these blue lights on me when I did nothing wrong?’”

After Raghu stepped out of the car, the officer came across the roller bottle, according to the police report. Raghu said that he generally keeps small bottles of perfume on his console to mask the scent of cigarette smoke. He said he bought the perfume at a gas station.

Raghu was handcuffed and taken to the Saline County Jail, before being charged with possession of a controlled substance. The bottle was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for testing.

“More than nine times I said loudly that it was a perfume, it’s a scent,” said Raghu, who claims he was handcuffed before being told why. “They didn’t even listen. They didn’t. They just ignored me totally.”

Civil rights attorney Michael Laux, who’s representing Raghu, said that the fragrance, a knockoff of the luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent’s scent of the same name, was easily identifiable as a perfume and that he believes the officer was intent on arresting him.

“The lack of reasonable care that went into this arrest is really pretty shocking,” Laux said. “And obviously it started a cascading effect here.”

The Benton Police Department said in a statement that the officer believed the vial contained a controlled substance “based on the totality of the circumstances known to the officer.” The department declined to comment further on the officer’s conduct during the arrest, Raghu’s current immigration status, his request to ICE or any other aspects of the case.

“Once it was determined the substance was not an illegal narcotic, charges were subsequently dropped in the case,” the police department said. “An investigation into this matter is currently ongoing at this time.”

Raghu’s attorneys said that the arrest snowballed in part because of his immigration history. While Raghu entered the U.S. lawfully on a B-2 tourist visa in May 2024, the visa expired later that year, according to Javier Contreras, a Little Rock-based immigration attorney who was retained while Raghu was in detention. Raghu, who had been dating his now-wife Ashley Mays, remained in the country to pursue the relationship. The two got married in April.

Raghu said the failure of his previous attorney to file his visa application in a timely manner left him without status and at risk of being detained and deported.

Whenever I called them, their attitude was, ‘It’s OK, you are married to a born and raised citizen,’” Raghu said.

With an expired visa, Raghu was transferred from the Saline County Jail to ICE custody at the Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana. After results from the crime lab, seen by NBC News, came back clean, Raghu was granted bond and released in early June.

Contreras said that while Raghu previously would’ve been able to apply for immigration relief and work authorization all at the same time, his ongoing deportation proceedings mean that he cannot obtain a work permit until his pending family-based visa is approved. And this process could take up to years.

Things have been difficult for the family, his wife said.

“He’s not able to work, so I’m working three jobs to sustain our current household, and trying to work to pay off any additional debt,” Mays said.

Mays added that she’s lost a lot of time with family due to her increased work schedule.

“It’s definitely taken a toll,” she said. “My daughter does Walmart deliveries with me — that’s what our fun is.”

The family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with legal fees and to help support their basic expenses during this ordeal. And despite the added challenges the ordeal has brought, the family says they still remain hopeful that the case will be dismissed (BBC News)