A DRUGS factory where police found nearly two million fake Valium tablets churned out pills 200 times STRONGER than cocaine, it can now be revealed.

Johnstone man Eric Reid, 45, and Paisley resident Scott McGaw, 33, were convicted over their involvement in the Breaking Bad-style drug ring last week, following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Police probing their gang – which included self-taught chemistry expert Harry Ingle, 40, and his friend Nicholas Conway, 45 – discovered Etizolam pills, which are dubbed ‘the Blue Plague,’ worth up to £1.6million in a back-street garage.

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Now that all four men have been convicted over their roles in the venture, details of the pills seized can be revealed.

The drugs were so potent that Reid was left slumped over the wheel of his £70,000 BMW saloon, leading a passer-by to think he was dead, after having just one sniff of the mixture used to make them.

The details emerged in a separate court case linked to the lock-up, in Paisley’s Back Sneddon Street, which called at Paisley Sheriff Court last year.

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Reid had been charged with driving his car while unfit to do so through drink or drugs on March 30, 2016, but struck a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to the reduced charge of being in charge of a vehicle while unfit to do so through drink or drugs.

Procurator fiscal depute Maureen McGovern said witnesses saw a blue BMW sitting in Albion Street, Paisley, at about 5.50pm.

She added: “They noted a male sitting within and that transpired to be the accused, sitting slumped in the driver’s seat with his seat belt on and the engine running.

“Out of concern, the witnesses made their way to the car and attempted to converse with him. He appeared to be unconscious and, in fact, one of the witnesses thought he was dead.”

Advocate Tony Lenehan, representing Reid, told the court his client was involved in the preparation for sale of Etizolam.

He said: “It’s a synthetic alternative to diazepam. In March 2016, the sale of it was not in any way restricted.”

Mr Lenehan added that, after opening a bag of the drug in powdered form and smelling it, Reid was left “in a bad way.”

He said: “It is a substance with psychoactive qualities.

“There was no conscious decision to digest it but he was aware of this airborne contamination with it.

“When it’s inhaled, it’s 200 times more potent than cocaine.

“That information comes from a forensic toxicologist.”

Reid was fined £675, reduced from £750 as he admitted his guilt, and banned from driving for eight months.

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Last week, Reid and McGaw were convicted of producing Etizolam at the Paisley garage between May 2016 and March 2017.

Ingle, of Berkshire, admitted being involved in the production and supply of the drug between the same dates, while Conway, from London, pleaded guilty to being involved in its supply between February and March last year.

All four will be sentenced next month.