Police cracked a smuggling ring after a women traveller with hidden drugs stuffed inside her packed luggage was caught carrying illicit substances, the High Criminal Court heard.
A sting was carried out and a labourer was later arrested when he arrived to collect the stash during a meeting set up by police.
Both Indian expatriates deny smuggling marijuana and methamphetamine, commonly known as shabu, into the kingdom and distributing the substances for sale.
The case was outlined to judges and they heard how the 24-year-old woman arrived at Bahrain International Airport from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on January 20 in the early hours of the morning. She put her luggage through a scanner on arrival, and it was revealed that although the suitcase was packed to the brim herbal substances were concealed within.
The customs team asked her if she had anything to declare or anything she wanted to reveal, and she reportedly said no.
However, an inspection of her belongings revealed 10 plastic bags filled with herbal substances, believed to be around 5.5kg of marijuana.
An officer from the Anti-Narcotics Directorate then arrested her on the spot, and during questioning she stated that she had received the bag in Thailand from a man simply identified as ‘Shahid’ who instructed her to take it to Bahrain.
She travelled from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, and then to the kingdom, with a transit through Dubai.
The officers allowed her to contact ‘Shahid’ to tell him that she had arrived and had left the airport. She was instructed to book a hotel and contact him again. ‘Shahid’ told her to contact a man, later identified as the accused 36-year-old labourer, and to meet him and hand over the drugs.
She was accompanied by police officers and when the exchange took place they swooped on the pair, the court heard.
An inspection of his house later revealed a weighing scale with traces of shabu.
Further investigations were launched, the court heard, which revealed that the pair worked as part of a network headed by ‘Shahid’. They allegedly sold drugs and psychedelic substances in Bahrain, mainly marijuana and shabu, in exchange for money.
The woman was allegedly responsible for smuggling the drugs into the kingdom, while the labourer’s part in the criminal enterprise was to receive the substances, store them and prepare them for sale.
After being questioned by the judges, they further denied the charges relating to smuggling, possession and distribution of drugs. The labourer admitted to possessing shabu for his own personal use.
The case has been adjourned until June 21 for further deliberation.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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