Washington, March 18
India is part of U.S. efforts to curb the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals, a top American intelligence official told lawmakers on Wednesday, highlighting cooperation with New Delhi even as officials warned of a widening global threat landscape.
Presenting the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, James H. Adams III, Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, said transnational criminal organisations remain a major threat, particularly through the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs.
"U.S. efforts to work with China and India to halt the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals to North America are demonstrating some improvement," Adams said, adding, "There is more work to be done."
He said Mexico-based cartels continue to dominate the production and smuggling of fentanyl and other narcotics into the United States, posing "a daily and direct threat to the health and safety of millions of U.S. citizens."
At the same hearing, Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, warned that terrorist groups remain a persistent concern despite being weaker than before.
"I completely concur... about the threat of ISIS, Al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist groups around the world," Gabbard said, noting that the nature of the threat is evolving.
"We're increasingly... seeing fewer indicators of large-scale, organised, complex threats... and instead, efforts focused on individuals... radicalised by Islamist propaganda," she said.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe told lawmakers that Iran continues to pose a serious threat to U.S. interests and security.
"Iran has been a constant threat to the United States... and posed an immediate threat at this time," Ratcliffe said, warning that its missile programme remains a key concern.
He said U.S. intelligence operations have strengthened, adding, "the CIA has delivered," with foreign intelligence collection "up by 25 per cent... in areas like China... up 100 per cent... in areas like tech and AI, up 45 per cent."
FBI Director Kash Patel highlighted growing domestic security risks, particularly from online radicalisation and cyber-enabled crime.
"They have transferred their capabilities... to online recruitments, which makes any terrorist organisation, including ISIS, all the more powerful," Patel said.
He said the FBI disrupted multiple plots, noting, "we... stopped four terrorist attacks... three of which were ISIS-inspired."
Patel also pointed to expanded coordination across agencies. "We have 59 Homeland Security taskforces... co-led by the FBI and DHS," he said, describing efforts to tackle terrorism and organised crime nationwide.
On cybercrime, Patel warned of increasingly sophisticated scam networks operating overseas. "We're going to... shut down every single scam centre compound," he said.
Officials also flagged the growing role of artificial intelligence in shaping future threats, including cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and battlefield decision-making.
- IANS
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