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Bahrain’s highest court has upheld a 15-year prison sentence against a young man convicted of importing large quantities of unregulated CBD oil disguised as dog shampoo.
In April 2025, the High Criminal Court found the 23-year-old Bahraini guilty of obtaining more than 2.5kg of the oil via air mail from Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, with intent to promote and sell it. He was also fined BD5,000.
He contested the ruling twice, but failed. Most recently, the Cassation Court rejected his final appeal.
In the original trial, a co-defendant of the same age was sentenced to six months behind bars and fined BD100 for purchasing spiked vape juice from the appellant and using them recreationally.
The GDN earlier reported that the young appellant received bottles of ‘dog shampoo’ containing 567gm of CBD oil, arriving from Singapore.
Another package, addressed in his name, contained three food containers with a total of 2.07kg of the narcotic, purportedly from a seller in Malaysia.
According to the initial verdict, he collaborated with well-meaning freight company employees on a regular basis, to get the vape shipped, and used tracking numbers to follow the packages’ movement.
Judges stated that the appellant had a history of money transfers to Vietnam from 2019 to September 2024, when he was arrested. Evidence of money transfers totalling BD1,742 were found, made in 2022 and 2023 over the course of three transactions worth BD492, BD695 and BD555.
“The defendant smuggled CBD oil in large quantities using creative methods, hiding the fluid in packaging for supplements, foodstuffs, cosmetics, and personal care products,” read the initial verdict.
“The purpose of this was to deceive authorities and conceal the true contents of the packaging, in order to resell the products for profit.”
A search of his house in Isa Town yielded 16 Lyrica pills, a vape cartridge with traces of CBD oil, along with BD65 in cash and 50 Saudi riyals (BD5), as well as bottles containing a fluid suspected to be narcotics.
During questioning by the Public Prosecution, both 23-year-olds admitted that they used drugs, though the dealer denied importing and selling them. However, he admitted to the charges in court.
An analysis of a urine sample given by the second defendant found traces of pregabalin in his system.
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil 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.
Strains of CBD oil that are usually consumed through vaping have been associated with seizures, sudden collapse, increased violence and serious injury or death.
Such substances ‘pose significant adverse health risks to users’ because ‘the purity of these substances is uncertain and inconsistent’, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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