An appeals court has declared a wife innocent of aiding her husband in smuggling more than 6kg of hashish into Bahrain, sparing her a long prison term.
In October, the Indian couple was sentenced to 15 years behind bars and fined BD5,000 for hiding narcotics – packaged as food – inside a suitcase among toys, nuts and sweets.
The man and woman flew from Thailand to Bahrain via Abu Dhabi. They were reportedly sent to the kingdom by a drug dealer in Pakistan to hand over the shipment to a local operative.
On top of the jail time and fine, the High Criminal Court ruled that the married expats be deported after completing their sentence.
After insisting on her innocence throughout all stages of the trial, the wife took to the appeals court for another chance at justice.
“After the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court scrutinised all the facts and prosecution evidence on which the accusations were built, doubts began to emerge,” read the verdict.
“The incident has a side that was not presented by the leading detective – facts he did not include in order to give more legitimacy to his accusations. He omitted facts that could weaken his argument.
“The detective himself mentioned that the first appellant smuggled the narcotics and took advantage of his wife, who aided him in the smuggling without knowing what was in the bag. This version of events is also confirmed by her husband’s statements.”
During questioning by the Public Prosecution, the appellants denied the charges, claiming that they thought they were transporting bukhoor and oud (incense) in return for 10,000 Indian Rupees (BD42).
The appeals verdict also revealed that the couple had spent three days in Thailand before travelling to the GCC, and that the mastermind behind the scheme covered all expenses – including flights and accommodation – during their journey from India.
“Investigations uncovered that the accused were working as part of an organised network of drug traffickers, run by a man in Pakistan, named ‘Ramadhan’,” the verdict added.
The GDN earlier reported that a Customs Affairs officer, who scans incoming suitcases at Bahrain International Airport, noticed ‘a high density of items’ in two bags, and marked the luggage with an ‘X’ so they could be searched thoroughly.
Upon attempting to leave the airport, the defendants were directed to the ‘Red Lane’ where passengers with items to declare are instructed to go.
A cache of ‘herbs’, later lab-tested and confirmed to be marijuana, was found in the bag, weighing a total of 6.54kg.
According to a policeman, the drugs were hidden creatively among travel gifts.
The Anti-Narcotics Directorate was informed about the find, and the defendants were arrested, later confessing to having received the bags in Thailand based on orders from a man in Pakistan.
The person who was to receive the goods in Bahrain intended to promote and sell the hashish, the couple told authorities.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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