Syrian national Alabras Ahmad under NCB scanner for Assad-army connection in Dehradun

DEHRADUN: Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is probing whether Syrian national Alabras Ahmad, arrested after India's first major Captagon seizure under Operation Ragepill, had links to the Assad-era drug manufacturing network in Syria before he allegedly shifted base to India and set up a production unit in Dehradun, officials said.The probe gained significance because Syria, under former president Bashar al-Assad, had emerged as the world's largest hub for Captagon production and trafficking, with several international probes linking the trade to regime-backed networks and military-linked protection systems during the civil war.After Assad's fall in late 2024, Syrian authorities found and dismantled several Captagon facilities, while analysts said old networks could fragment and look for newer production and transit locations.A central agency official told TOI, "The probe angles include whether he was a participant in Captagon manufacturing operations in Syria or someone who fled after the Assad regime collapsed and later shifted his base to India to continue the drug trade."NCB had launched 'Operation Ragepill' after an intelligence input indicated that India was being used as a transit point for Captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant that has been widely trafficked from West Asia to Gulf markets.The operation, revealed by Union home minister Amit Shah on May 16, led to the arrest of Ahmad from Delhi and the seizure of 227.7kg of Captagon tablets and powder worth around Rs 182 crore.Officials said Ahmad entered India on a tourist visa on Nov 15, 2024, which expired on Jan 12, 2025, but he overstayed and allegedly arranged manufacturing after renting a pharmaceutical facility in Dehradun.The factory owner, Sanjay Kumar, was held by NCB on May 17 after it was found that the unit had allegedly been used to produce Captagon with tablet-making machinery and chemical inputs.NCB officials said the Dehradun unit was allegedly hired at Rs 50,000 per day by an international cartel to make the drug. Investigators are examining financial trails, communications, supply chains for precursor chemicals, machinery procurement and possible links between Ahmad's India operations and Captagon handlers abroad.NCB zonal director in Uttarakhand Dev Anand confirmed that the drug was manufactured by Ahmad in Dehradun."Following the revelation, we have increased our vigil to probe other pharma units as well to check if any other facility is involved in a similar crime. As far as this case is concerned, it is being probed by NCB Delhi unit. We are offering all assistance to them," Anand said.Captagon, originally a brand name for fenethylline, is commonly used for illicit amphetamine-type pills produced and trafficked through organised networks. In West Asia, the trade became a multibillion-dollar illegal economy during Syria's war years.Officials said Ahmad's arrest had raised concern that criminal networks disrupted in Syria could try to use legitimate-looking pharmaceutical infrastructure in other countries for manufacturing or transit.NCB's focus, officials added, was to identify Ahmad's handlers, the intended destination and whether any other Indian facility had been approached by the cartel.