A young woman struggling with heroin addiction, who allegedly became homeless after her mum kicked her out of her house, was tricked into becoming a drug dealer, a court heard.
The 20-year-old Bahraini is standing trial at the High Criminal Court alongside a 26-year-old Lebanese salesman, whom she alleges persuaded her to sell drugs on his behalf.
The two, along with the girl’s 27-year-old Bahraini boyfriend, were charged with possessing and selling heroin for profit. The couple was also charged with the recreational use of drugs.
After being forced to leave her home, the defendant – now homeless –testified that she began sleeping in a rental car and spending most of her time with her boyfriend.
One night in June, the Bahraini couple were spotted in the parking lot of a shopping centre in Saar. A police officer woke them with knocks on their car window and noted that they appeared to be in an impaired state. Suspecting narcotics use, the officer arrested them. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed narcotics.
“I started consuming drugs with my boyfriend (third defendant), and we bought them from Pakistanis via dead drops,” the 20-year-old earlier told the Public Prosecution.
“In June, my mum threw me out of our home because she believed that I returned to using drugs. I slipped further back into old habits.
“I rented a car, and I would drive my boyfriend to and from his job at a Lebanese restaurant. We were together all of the time, except when he was at work.”
She recounted that the first defendant (Lebanese), whom she knew through a former friend, contacted her about four to five days after she had been evicted from her home and offered her heroin.
“He asked how I was and whether I was unemployed. I said yes. Then he asked if I still used drugs, and I admitted that I did, but explained I didn’t have money to buy any. He told me he would give me heroin without requiring payment.”
A week later, the couple went to a building in Riffa to pick up a concealed package with drugs in it, which also contained two sensitive scales, empty packaging (baggies), a burner phone and a charging cable.
After using the stash for a few days, she alleged that the Lebanese man told them they would need to sell heroin in exchange for the package, stating that ‘it was not free’.
She began packing and fulfilling orders for the first defendant, while her boyfriend dropped them off at designated locations to be picked up by customers later.
In a High Criminal Court hearing, the boyfriend took responsibility for the drug dealing, declaring before judges that his girlfriend was uninvolved and asserting her innocence.
She appealed to prosecutors for leniency, pleading for a second chance. “I just want to be with my mother and go to rehab,” she said.
The court was informed that the Lebanese man had been deported following a criminal case several months before this trial commenced.
The court has set February 10 as a date to issue a verdict in the case.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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