India, May 17 -- First Captagon seizure raises fears of emerging maritime narco corridor.

India's first-ever seizure of Captagon, the notorious synthetic stimulant that emerged as one of the defining narcotics of the Syrian conflict economy, has triggered a major multi-agency investigation into whether international trafficking syndicates linked to West Asian narco networks are beginning to use Indian territory as a covert maritime transit corridor for Gulf-bound drug shipments.

Nearly 200 kg of Captagon tablets valued at around Rs 182 crore in the illicit international market were seized by the Narcotics Control Bureau during "Operation RAGEPILL" at Gujarat's Mundra Port, in what officials describe as one of the most strategically sign...