.jpg?20261015')
Two Bahrainis and their Moroccan friend found guilty of making illegal homemade vaping drugs from imported ingredients have lodged appeals against lengthy spells behind bars, as well as hefty fines.
The man and two women were earlier sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined BD10,000 each for possessing and importing narcotics for trading purposes, as well as using the drugs themselves.
A 25-year-old Bahraini was also found guilty of possessing an electric taser and metal handcuffs, in addition to resisting arrest. He led a racket in which raw materials to make CBD oil were ordered from Thailand, smuggled via the King Fahad Causeway, before being turned into consumable e-liquid.
A 24-year-old Bahraini woman – one of his partners in crime – admitted to transporting the shipments arriving from Saudi Arabia at least 20 times and handing them over.
His girlfriend, a 26-year-old Moroccan woman, admitted to aiding and abetting him by paying their Thai raw materials supplier on his behalf, making international transfers using her name.
She had also rented a flat in her name to provide a space that they could use to create the concoction. Judges ordered to deport her after completing her prison sentence.
Having been convicted on drug trading charges at the High Criminal Court, the trio yesterday took to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to contest the verdict.
A detective described the 25-year-old as ‘extremely cautious’ in his operations, out of fear of the police, only selling to people he trusted. Despite that, he was detected by authorities, investigated and apprehended.
Investigations found that the appellant ran a network to import, promote and sell drugs. A team of police officers waited for him outside his Juffair residence to arrest him, and he reportedly ‘violently’ resisted arrest, attempting to taser one of the policemen.
Police then headed to the 36-year-old Moroccan appellant’s apartment, finding her in ‘an unnatural state believed to be the result of using narcotics’.
In the 24-year-old Bahraini woman’s flat, a cache of narcotics, as well as tools used for packaging and distribution, were discovered. Both were arrested.
Court documents delineate the suspects’ roles: the first arranged to smuggle raw materials – ingredients to make CBD oil through – by ordering them from East Asia to arrive in Saudi, while the second fetched them across the border, handing them to the first to manufacture and sell.
Once the homebrewed narcotic is made, the Bahraini woman is tasked with dividing up the quantities and packaging them. She also rented an apartment and a car in her name for the man to use.
She admitted that the man offered her a BD300 monthly payment and free drugs for her joining his racket.
Meanwhile, the third defendant – the Moroccan – helped out with the manufacturing in her own flat and made transfers. In return, the male appellant gave her free drugs and pays her expenses.
She stated that she sent BD500 to Thailand for him, and also helps him mix the raw hashish ingredients with vaping fluid, which they then sell to trusted customers.
When the Bahraini man was arrested, a glass bottle containing 249.4g CBD oil was found on his person, as well as three hashish-filled e-cigarettes, a regular cigarette, 100 pills of pregabalin (Lyrica) and 81 pills of an unspecified medication.
A taser, metal handcuffs, 1,500 Saudi riyals (BD150) and BD70 were also found. He admitted to corresponding to individual from Thailand for the shipments, as well as fleeing from the police.
Judges set October 26 as the date a verdict will be made in the appeal.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))