Three Indian men are facing trial at the High Criminal Court for multiple counts of drug-related offences including the smuggling, possession and distribution of marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids and morphine.
The men, described as a 23-year-old labourer from Sitra, a 34-year-old heavy vehicle driver from West Eker and a 23-year-old cleaner from Tubli, received the substances via parcels from overseas and sold them using dead drops.
According to court documents, two Bahraini customs officers seized two parcels linked to the suspects.
The first parcel arrived on September 6 at around 6.30am.
According to the officer on duty, he was scanning parcels as he usually did when he came across a package from the UK.
He put it through the machine and it detected suspicious substances.
The parcel was opened for inspection purposes and three containers of synthetic cannabinoids weighing around 2kg were discovered.
He collected a sample of the substance and sent it to the Anti-Narcotics Directorate for further examination.
Around two months later, on November 28, another officer on duty ended up checking a similar parcel, this time arriving from Thailand at around 3.30am.
After opening the parcel, he found around 1.7kg of marijuana hidden deep inside its contents.
The officer also sent the substances to the Anti-Narcotics Directorate, who were able to confirm, thanks to the same sender’s name, that the two parcels were linked.
On December 8, at around 10am, the 23-year-old labourer came to collect the packages under the instruction of an individual simply described as ‘Ghulam’, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
The suspect was apprehended at the scene and after being questioned stated his duty was to receive the parcel and then hand it to someone else.
With permission from the officers, he contacted the individual and set up a meeting for the exchange in Juffair at 2pm.
When the officers arrived at the destination, a man, later identified as the 34-year-old heavy vehicle driver, appeared after he opened the back door of a building and took the parcel.
The driver was arrested on the spot and questioned.
He stated that he was working for the man named ‘Ghulam’ and that it was his duty to take the parcel to a dead drop location in West Eker, where another man would receive it.
The officers instructed him to make contact and set up a meeting for later in the day.
When they arrived at the designated location, they instructed him to put the parcel in the dead drop and wait.
Not too long after, the man, later identified as the 23-year-old cleaner, stepped out of a vehicle and slowly approached the parcel.
Once he picked it up and took it for himself, he was also arrested by the officers on the spot.
Further investigations were launched, which revealed that the trio was working as part of a network, headed by the individual called ‘Ghulam’, that sold drugs and psychedelic substances in the kingdom in exchange for money.
Additionally, an inspection of their phones revealed conversations, messages and photographs related to the substances, as well as geographical locations across the kingdom.
They were all referred for trial at the High Criminal Court, where they stood in the dock yesterday facing charges relating to the possession and sale of the substances.
The case has been adjourned until June 16 for further deliberation.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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