Synthetic drug production and trafficking in the region, particularly out of Myanmar’s Shan State, has grown exponentially in recent years, says former foreign correspondent Nirmal Ghosh. SINGAPORE: At first it was innocuous enough – a fishing boat far below, making its way across the azure blue surface of the Andaman Sea . But an Indian Coast Guard crew on a routine air patrol sensed something odd about it, and called it in. A fast, armed Coast Guard cutter was dispatched from its base at Port