A DRUG dealer – known as the ‘Juffair Drug Dealer’ – has been jailed for life.
The 38-year-old Bahraini, who owns several businesses including a cold store and a tailoring shop, was found guilty by the High Criminal Court of smuggling and selling narcotics.
He was arrested when he tried to sell crystal meth worth BD200 to an undercover officer.
A raid on his Janabiya apartment turned up BD56,000 in cash which investigators believed were profits from illegal drug sales.
Investigations were launched after the authorities received a tip-off about a person nicknamed ‘Juffair Drug Dealer’, leading to the identification and subsequent arrest of the accused who was reportedly selling large amounts of narcotics in Juffair.
He was jailed for life, which holds a 25-year sentence, and fined BD5,000 yesterday.
Arrest
“Police investigations led to the arrest of the defendant who smuggled large amounts of drugs into the country,” said the court ruling.
The defendant said he was being supplied with the drugs by a man in Saudi.
“He said he met a Saudi man in an apartment in Juffair who later provided him with the drugs.
“He then smuggled the narcotics into the country and sold them.
“The defendant tried to sell BD200 worth of shabu (crystal meth) to an undercover agent in Bahrain.
“Authorities found BD56,000 in the defendant’s apartment in Janabiya believed to have been obtained by selling drugs.
“The defendant said he sold kilos of shabu on behalf of an unknown Saudi man – making thousands of dinars in profit.”
The accused was arrested during the alleged drug exchange in Juffair in August last year.
He pleaded not guilty to drug dealing but earlier told prosecutors that he distributed narcotics received from a Saudi supplier.
He said he only used drugs for two years before he met the unknown Saudi man in an apartment of prostitutes in Juffair.
He admitted selling such large quantities of drugs and a friend warned him that he risked attracting the attention of authorities.
However, he claimed the money found in his apartment did not come from drug dealing – even though he said police also confiscated four kilos of shabu, one kilo of marijuana and a kilo of hashish.
noorz@gdn.com.bh