NCB busts major Captagon trafficking racket
- Narcotics Control Bureau busted an international trafficking network and seized captagon in Delhi. - Officials say the haul is worth about Rs 182 crore and marks India's first captagon seizure. - The drug, linked to IS operatives, raises terror-financing concerns and law enforcement scrutiny. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
1/ NCB arrests Syrian national in Delhi with India's first Captagon seizure. Narcotics Control Bureau officers nabbed Mohammad Ibrahim, a Syrian, on May 14 from north Delhi's Azadpur area during a raid on his rented flat. They recovered 23 kg of Captagon tablets worth Rs 182 crore ($21.8 million). 2/ Captagon is fenethylline, a synthetic amphetamine fueling Middle East conflicts. Each tablet contains 15-50 mg of the stimulant, banned globally since the 1980s. Users get 12-15 hours of heightened alertness, suppressing fatigue and hunger—popular among fighters. Syria produces 80% of the world's supply, over 500 million pills yearly per UN estimates. 3/ The drug's rise traces to Syria's civil war. Production exploded post-2011 under Assad regime control and militant groups. "Captagon" (Arabic for "overcome") is stamped on pills, mimicking 1960s West German brand Captagon. Bulk precursors like caffeine and paracetamol come from China/India; finished pills ship via Turkey/Lebanon. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-captagon-trade-explained-202
