Police have foiled an attempt to smuggle three kilos of marijuana and 505 prescription pills into Bahrain hidden inside motorcycle spare parts.
They were concealed inside a package that was shipped to Bahrain from Bangladesh using international courier DHL.
However, Customs officers intercepted the shipment at Bahrain International Airport on August 15 and alerted the Anti-Narcotics Directorate.
The drugs were uncovered when the parcel was being scanned by an X-ray machine and police set up a sting operation to arrest the person whom the package was addressed to.
A call was placed to the intended recipient and a 23-year-old Bangladeshi was detained after showing up to collect the package.
However, he claimed to be a private driver who was instructed to collect the parcel by one of his passengers in return for BD5.
“What I am accused of is not true,” the driver said in his statement to prosecutors. On August 15, I was driving around in Riffa and picked up a Bangladeshi man, who asked me to take him to DHL in Muharraq.
“He then got out of the vehicle, handed me his mobile phone and instructed me to pick up a package for him from inside.
“He gave me a receipt that contained his name, the package number and the address.
“He told me he would give me BD5 if I did it and said he would wait outside.
“I handed the piece of paper to a receptionist who told me to wait.
“Suddenly, an officer rushed into the building and arrested me.
“I told them I did not do anything wrong and simply wanted to get the BD5 for picking up the package as the customer promised.
“They showed me the drugs in the package and I denied any involvement.
“All I know that this plant found in the package is called ‘ganja’ and it is grown in my home country, Bangladesh, and many people smoke it over there.
“But I don’t smoke it at all and was just picking up the package without knowing its content.
“I also don’t know anything about these pink and purple pills.”
According to an Anti-Narcotics Directorate report, the confiscated items contained 3,028.2 grams of marijuana and 505 prescription pills concealed in a blue bag.
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