AN expatriate trucker, who sold heroin for BD5 per ‘hit’ and dealt in joints too, has lost an appeal against his 10-year jail sentence yesterday.
Last month, the High Criminal Court found the Bangladeshi guilty of possessing narcotics with intent to trade, was fined BD5,000, and judges ruled to deport him after the completion of his sentence.
The 36-year-old expat took to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to contest the ruling and failed after the court heard that he had been caught red-handed and ‘getting high’ in a yellow car in a secluded area with an Indian drug addict, who was his co-defendant in the original case.
Coastguard officers were on patrol in Ras Zuwayed bay, looking for boats that violate marine regulations, when they spotted the pair ‘in a questionable condition’.
“At 9pm, while the patrol was leaving the shore, officers spotted a vehicle which an individual was standing next to,” read the initial verdict, which summarised the case’s circumstances.
“When the person noticed the patrol, he ran away, which sparked suspicion.”
Shortly afterwards, patrol vehicles surrounded the car, and officers wore yellow vests and stepped out to approach the two people sitting inside it.
The duo did not respond positively to instructions and the driver attempted to flee, smashing into one of the patrol vehicles.
“After the crash, they complied, turning off the engine and handing over the car keys,” the court heard. “However, it looked like the defendant was trying to hide something. When asked what it was, he stated that the thing he was hiding was a narcotic.”
The Bangladeshi co-operated with the authorities regarding a search of his residence, in which six rolled joints containing a powder were found, along with papers soaked with a narcotic substance. Heroin was also discovered.
The 36-year-old stated that he obtained the merchandise from a man named ‘Mustafa’ via dead drops, then sold them, dividing each gramme into multiple joints.
He admitted to also selling heroin per ‘hit’, or injection, and stated that he had made 40 sales.
The 35-year-old Indian admitted to using heroin, and buying a hit from his co-defendant for BD5. Traces of morphine were found in his urine following laboratory analysis.
In the initial High Criminal Court trial, the Indian expatriate was sentenced to a year in prison and fined BD1,000 for possessing morphine for personal use.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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