The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed its chargesheet against expelled DMK functionary and film producer Jaffer Sadiq accusing him of leading an international drug trafficking syndicate for more than a decade. According to the 250-page chargesheet, Jaffer laundered the profits through film productions and other business ventures such as dry fruit export, real estate, and more. The ED has now charged him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Jaffer, who was expelled from the DMK in February, was arrested on March 9 this year. The alleged kingpin is said to have smuggled ketamine and pseudoephedrine to Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand, disguising them as bangles, desiccated coconut, health mixes, magnesium sulphate, etc. At the time of his arrest, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had recovered 50 kg of pseudoephedrine from export companies linked to him. Pseudoephedrine is a chemical commonly found in over-the-counter cold medication that has been misused for the production of methamphetamine. According to the chargesheet, the Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch (SIIB), Export also seized over 38 kg of ketamine. Another 50 kg of pseudoephedrine was seized by Chennai Customs previously.
The chargesheet says Jaffer spent at least Rs 6.3 crore of profits from narcotics trade for filmmaking alone. Another Rs 33 crore was allegedly found in various bank accounts linked to him and his family and over Rs 10 crore had been layered using a financier named Marimuthu.
Further, actor-director Ameer Sulthan has been named as accused No 12 in the chargesheet. Several members of Jaffer’s family, including his wife, father, and brothers, have been accused as well. Apart from acting as proxy owners of real estate bought with funds from drugs sales and holding bank accounts with profits from narcotics trade, their names were also used to generate International Export Codes (IECs), the ED says.
The cartel’s MO
The ED uncovered a total of six bemani companies for exporting drugs under the guise of food stuff or bangles or health mixes: Aventa Company, Ganesha Chemicals, Krishna Chemicals, Samy Stores, Cube Impex, and Sakthi Enterprises. These proxy companies were exporting drugs to nine different entities in Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Back in 2015, at the Air Cargo Complex (ACC) in Chennai, 76 bags marked as magnesium sulphate headed to Malaysia came under scan. Two of the bags showed anomalies and testing proved that the substance disguised as magnesium sulphate was actually pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (commonly called pseudoephedrine). The legal export of pseudoephedrine requires a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the NCB Commissioner.
In 2018, over 38 kg of ketamine was seized on the properties of five firms in Mumbai. The ketamine had allegedly been concealed in boxes containing bangles set for export to Kuala Lumpur.
Again this year, 50 kg of pseudoephedrine was seized, this time by the NCB in Delhi. The drug was found in three gunny bags marked as flour, waiting to be smuggled to Australia. This seizure would finally lead to Jaffer’s arrest.
Four of Jaffer’s aides in the cartel – Mukesh PU, Ashok Kumar, Mujeepur Rahaman R and Sathananatham – would allegedly scout for people in dire financial situations and take their identities on loan in exchange for small sums of money. These proxies would then be used to open bank accounts and rental agreements.
For communications, sim cards were issued to cartel members and destroyed after they had been used to install WhatsApp.
Further, a total of 21 ventures ranging from iron and steel to investment firms to dry fruit exports connected to Jaffer were uncovered. These companies were run for the sole purpose of laundering funds from the smuggling racket, the ED alleges, adding that neither Jaffer nor his accused family members had the expertise to operate such ventures.
A sprawling network
A total of 12 individuals are accused, including Jaffer. Mohammad Saleem, identified as Jaffer’s second in command, is directly accused in the smuggling of 38.867 kg of ketamine that was seized by customs officers in Mumbai.
Mukesh, the third accused, had been handling drugs for Jaffer for at least a decade. Accused no 4, Mujeepur, was in charge of finding proxies whose identities could be used to register export firms. Like Mukesh, he was also in charge of packing and disguising narcotics and facilitating their export.
SG Sathananatham, the fifth accused, had sent multiple consignments containing pseudoephedrine to Malaysia under proxy companies, the chargesheet says.
Accused no 7 Mydeen Gani, Jaffer’s younger brother, is another “key member” of the cartel, according to the ED. His activities allegedly extend across smuggling to laundering money through film production and real estate. The firm is one of the 21 ventures that the ED says were used to launder the cartel’s money.
Jaffer’s wife Ameena Banu (accused no 8) has been named as an accused for failing to raise suspicions regarding the cartel and allowing her bank accounts to be used to launder money and for acting as a proxy for real estate properties bought with drug money. Jaffer’s father Abdul Raheem Jinnah (accused no 9) served as the director of one of the cartel’s many properties where the drugs were packed.
But the most significant name in the list of other accused is Tamil actor-director Ameer Sulthan.
Drug money laundered in movie-making?
Profits made through drug smuggling were channelled as payments to directors, technicians, actors, and more, the chargesheet says, with at least Rs 6.3 crore used in filmmaking alone. Apart from Jaffer’s production house JSM Pictures that produced six films, another similarly named company named JSM Pictures (OPC) Private Limited stands out.
JSM Pictures (OPC), Jaffer told the ED, is a paper company “established to round trip the monies generated from movies”. However, the chargesheet notes that the company’s bank accounts have only one financial transaction. It was allegedly a payment of Rs 2 lakh to hugely popular music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja.
JSM Pictures has produced six movies, one of which is Iraivan Miga Periyavan, director Ameer’s fifth film that was supposed to release this year with director Vetrimaaran as the scriptwriter. Ameer allegedly claimed during interrogation that Jaffer had discussed fees with Vetrimaaran but had no further knowledge regarding this. The announcement also claims that the film’s music would be composed by Yuvan.
Little information is available on three other films Mangai, Mayaavali, and Indra, apart from some trailer releases and early promotional material.
Indra stars Vasanth Ravi, according to posters and press announcements. One document examined in the probe shows a payment of Rs 3 lakh to ‘VR 07 Irfan Salary’, which according to a JSM Pictures employee questioned by the ED was instructions for payments to Vasanth Ravi. The employee allegedly added that Jaffer had further instructed that this payment was to be made in cash and only by Jaffer himself.
The other two are yet to be titled but are allegedly directed by individuals identified as Ramesh and Vivek. Documents recovered during the investigation show that Rs 16.8 lakh was paid to ‘director Vivek’ in five instalments in 2023. Additionally, payments ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh were made to an assortment of people including an art director, director of photography, writer, a manager named Jai, and more. There are multiple such payments to technicians, dancers, costume designers, film sets, and others.
According to the records, a total of Rs 2.2 crore was spent on Indra; Rs 85 lakh on Iraivan Miga Periyavan; Rs 1.3 crore on Mangai; Rs 1.04 crore on Maayavali; and Rs 61 lakh and Rs 31 lakh on the two untitled films respectively. These alleged expenditures on filmmaking total Rs 6.31 crore. Apart from directing Iraivan Miga Periyavan, Ameer’s Ameer Film Corporation is named the co-producer of Maayavali, the ED says.
Ameer’s involvement
In its accusations against Ameer, the ED says that he and Jaffer had been close allies for several years. Ameer “enjoyed the fruits of illicit drug trade through this close association”, the chargesheet alleges.
Ameer “was mentor and guide to Jaffer Sadiq in his venture into movie making. JSM Pictures was established and shaped under his [Ameer’s] tutelage,” the chargesheet adds.
The Rs 85 lakh invested by Jaffer in the production of Iraivan Miga Periyavan was allegedly profits from narcotics smuggling. For the co-production of Maayavali, documents retrieved from searches in Ameer’s office show expenditures incurred for the film at the cost of Rs 2.15 crore from November 2021 to March 2024, but the actor-director was unable to provide the source of this income to the ED.
Documentary evidence for the expenditure of Rs 1.85 crore on films other than Maayavalai and produced under the banner of Ameer’s company has also allegedly been retrieved. As were details regarding cash deposits approximating Rs 1.52 crore made into Ameer’s bank accounts. The ED says no satisfactory proof was provided for the source of either amount, leading to the conclusion that the funds came from Jaffer’s drugs sales.
In the financial year 2017-18, Mydeen (accused no 7) made a payment of Rs 16 lakh to Ameer, as per the chargesheet. Along with Mohammed Saleem, Mydeen and Jaffer were allegedly exclusively in charge of sourcing narcotic substances. Interestingly, Mydeen is also the lead actor of Iraivan Miga Periyavan. About 80% shooting of the film is complete, Ameer told the ED in his statement, adding that he is unaware of any measures taken to secure distribution rights for the film, if any.
Saying that Ameer was “directly involved in the process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime including its concealment, possession, acquisition or use and projecting or claiming them as untainted properties”, he has been charged under section 2(1)(p) read with section 3 (projecting proceeds of crime as untainted property) of the PMLA.
JSM Pictures’ funds also went through a complex layer of unsecured loans (no collateral is required to be provided) arranged by a certain AVS Marimuthu, who has offices in Washermanpet.
Unexplained bank accounts and real estate
A total of 56 bank accounts linked either to individuals close to Jaffer or companies owned by him have allegedly received huge deposits of cash which the accused have been unable to explain. Four of these are accounts linked to Ameer—two under his name and two alleged to belong to his Ameer Film Corporation. The ED has concluded that the funds in all of these accounts were drug money made in cash and deposited into these accounts “for the purpose of placement, layering and integration”.
The investigation has also allegedly revealed 12 real estate properties—totalling a worth Rs 49.59 crore—registered to Jaffer and his family members across Chennai. Another two properties have been found registered to proxies Jamal Mohammad and Mohammad Mustafa S. A total of Rs 2.47 crore was spent on acquisition, construction, modification of these two properties registered to proxy owners.
The properties are in prime locations across the city such as Mylapore, Adyar, Egmore, and Purasalawakam. Money from the smuggling racket was also used for constructions on empty plots among these properties, the ED has alleged.
The ED also discovered nine vehicles, including several high-end cars, that were allegedly bought with money from narcotics trade.