TWO men have been sentenced to 10 years in jail for smuggling 990 tablets of Valium into Bahrain in food cartons.
The High Criminal Court also fined the two Guinean men BD5,000, and ordered them deported after completing their sentences.
Court documents say that the first defendant, a 46-year-old driver, had returned from vacation in his West African home country when he was flagged by airport Customs.
He was arrested for possession of diazepam (commonly sold as Valium) which was concealed in a food stuff carton he brought over as checked luggage.
The second defendant, a 35-year-old foreman, was found guilty of aiding and abetting his friend in his prescription drug-selling business.
Since the narcotics were reportedly smuggled in cartons of Guinean food items, the defendant claimed that he had no knowledge of the contraband and ‘was surprised to find the drugs in the boxes’.
He also possessed 10 capsules of gabapentin, a controlled anticonvulsant medication, along with a single capsule of the opioid tramadol, although he denied importing the three drugs for trading purposes.
However, his compatriot testified that he was aware of the contents of the boxes.
“I agreed with my co-defendant to bring over the capsules, and he was doing it without me paying him,” he told prosecutors.
Meanwhile, an airport Customs officer testified that the African man was caught after cartons belonging to him were scanned in an x-ray machine, revealing the pills within.
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