A former convict has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for smuggling spiked vape juice through the Bahrain-Saudi border, concealing it in containers of motor oil.
The High Criminal Court also fined the 24-year-old Bahraini man BD5,000 after finding him guilty of importing synthetic cannabinoids (CBD oil) from Vietnam via airmail, with the intention of selling it.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, CBD oil and similar substances ‘pose significant adverse health risks to users’ because ‘the purity of these substances is uncertain and inconsistent’.
The defendant, who was earlier sentenced to two years behind bars for drug charges, was also found guilty of possessing 152 capsules of Lyrica (pregabalin) for personal use.
A total of 1,224gm of CBD oil was found by police officers upon searching the man’s home in Tubli, along with BD2,901 in cash, 1,770 Saudi Riyals and receipts of wire transfers to Vietnam worth BD1,250 and $4,500 (BD1,700).
The young man reportedly confessed that the items in the room belonged to him, and that he did indeed send money to Vietnam and received the narcotics in return.
According to court documents, after ordering the contraband, the man goes to Saudi Arabia to collect it and hides it in seemingly-innocuous e-cigarette cartridges and motor oil canisters to transport it to Bahrain using the causeway.
Authorities were able to apprehend the man after receiving information from a secret source, and policemen obtained an arrest warrant from the Public Prosecution.
A detective earlier testified that a sting operation was set up to catch him in the act, with the informant arranging to purchase the liquid narcotic from the suspect for BD100.
Among the evidence against the defendant, presented to the court by the Public Prosecution, were text messages and chat logs that included images of dead drop locations and BenefitPay transfer receipts.
Bahrain-based illicit CBD vendors are known to import the liquid via post from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is derived from cannabis and is a popular natural remedy for many ailments. However, it is outlawed in Bahrain as the liquid may be cut or laced with ingredients harmful to users’ health.
‘Dead mail’ or ‘dead drops’ are a method of drug distribution that involves hiding, or sometimes burying, the narcotics in a pre-determined spot for a buyer to later pick up.
The ex-convict defendant is being tried as a ‘repeat offender’. In Bahraini law, having an offence on record that is the same as the crime for which one is charged is considered an aggravating circumstance and leads to harsher sentencing.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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