Special NDPS Judge P B Sawant convicted Suresh Jain, Kurukuttikaran Anthony, Shiroor Rajeeva, Ramesh Jain and Chandrakant Bharambe for possessing over 20,000 mandrax tablets weighing 20 kg and worth Rs 20 lakh in the international market.

The sentence against the five convicts will be pronounced on Friday.

On a tip-off, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in November 2000 raided a house in Chembur where they seized 20 kg of mandrax tablets and arrested Antony, Rajeeva and Suresh Jain who on interrogation revealed an elaborate racket of manufacturing, supplying and distributing of mandrax tablets. They also revealed the role of the kingpin of the racket, Ramesh Jain and one Ramniklal Gajeria who was allegedly the supplier of chemicals.

After Ramesh Jain was caught, the NCB busted an entire factory in Bhusaval where mandrax tablets were manufactured. The NCB also cracked down on the supply and distribution of the contraband.

Ramesh Jain, according to the NCB, would buy Methaqualone powder and Acetic Anhydride used to manufacture mandrax from other co-accused and then hand over the supplies to the owner of the factory, Chandrakant Bharambe, in Bhusaval where the tablets would be manufactured. Then the final good was transported in private vehicles through a distribution channel handled by convicted accused Antony and Rajeeva and used to be purchased by another accused, Mohammed Ibrahim Jhaveri, who used to supply it in the city.