FOUR expatriate men were handed life sentences of 25 years yesterday for their involvement in an array of narcotic-related offences including smuggling, selling, planting and using multiple drugs.
Two Americans, aged 37 and 56, a 55-year-old former British restaurateur and a 57-year-old from Portugal were each found guilty of smuggling and selling cocaine, marijuana, hashish, shabu, MDMA and prescription pill charges, as well as growing marijuana, and will all have to pay fines of BD10,000.
According to court documents, the 17 defendants were jointly accused of being part of a drug trafficking gang infiltrated by the authorities in 2022.
The GDN previously reported that some of its members were found to be dealing cocaine and other illegal substances and targeting a specific group of young people who could afford the prices, according to the anti-narcotics directorate of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science.
Fourteen of the accused were expatriates from the US, UK, Canada, Italy, India, the Netherlands, Portugal, Macedonia, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, as well as three Bahrainis.
The 57-year-old Portuguese man was also fined BD100 for the possession of pornographic material along with a 49-year-old American man, a 36-year-old Indian man, a 49-year-old Canadian man, two British men aged 27 and 40, a 34-year-old Macedonian man, a 37-year-old Bahraini man, a 46-year-old Lebanese woman and a 45-year-old Italian man.
According to the court ruling, the 49-year-old American, 49-year-old Canadian, 40-year-old Brit, 34-year-old Macedonian, 37-year-old Bahraini – all men – and a 58-year-old Dutch woman, were all sentenced to 10 years for drug offences and fined BD5,000 each.
A 36-year-old Bahraini, 37-year-old Saudi Arabian, 45-year-old Italian – all men – alongside a 46-year-old Lebanese woman – were sentenced to 12 months behind bars and each fined BD1,000.
The court also ruled that the 36-year-old Indian businessman and 27-year-old British man be acquitted of charges concerning the possession with an intent to distribute cannabis, hashish, cocaine, marijuana and shabu. They were sentenced to a year behind bars and fined BD1,000 for using narcotics.
A 55-year-old Bahraini was acquitted of setting up a drugs den in his residence in Saar. He was found guilty of using marijuana, hashish and cocaine and sentenced to 12-months in jail and also fined BD1,000.
The GDN previously reported several of the defendants were said to have helped the authorities set up sting operations to arrest their accomplices.
All 14 expatriates will be deported upon the completion of their sentences, said the High Criminal Court in its ruling yesterday.
reem@gdnmedia.bh
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