Drugs duo await plea verdict

AN expatriate TikTok drug dealing duo, who bought supplies off the popular social media platform with the intention of reselling at a profit, yesterday took to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to contest a ruling that found both men guilty.

In January, they were sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined BD5,000 for possessing and selling hashish and meth, and for other drugs using charges.

The court also ordered that the Pakistani defendants, aged 23 and 26, be deported after completing their sentences.

“The second defendant met a yet-unidentified man, known only as ‘Bashir’, on TikTok, after he saw drugs on sale on his account, including hashish and shabu,” read the verdict.

“He suggested to his friend, the first defendant, the idea of buying the narcotics from the man and reselling them for a higher price to make money.

“He agreed, and the second defendant ordered the drugs and paid BD32 to Bashir on BenefitPay, and then collected his order from Manama via dead drops.

“He handed the order to the first defendant, who sold it to a Bahraini friend for BD45.”

The verdict went on that the same man, now a repeat customer, asked for hashish and shabu, which the defendants obliged by ordering it from their own source.

The court heard that they went near a military training centre in West Riffa to collect the merchandise through a dead mail.

A policeman, who eventually apprehended the expats, received information from a ‘trusted’ secret source about their operations, including that one of the suspects lived in the Capital Governorate.

The detective requested a search and arrest warrant from the Public Prosecution, and after receiving it, set up a sting operation with the aforementioned informant to catch the men red-handed.

After agreeing to buy hashish worth BD30 from the defendants in September 2025, the informant was to meet with them near a hotel by Bab Al Bahrain.

The secret source went there with his own car, and spotted the 23-year-old suspect, who entered his car at 1.35am. Sitting in the passenger’s seat, he messaged his accomplice to deliver the goods.

The 26-year-old suspect approached the informant’s car’s window on his motorcycle and gave him hashish. As soon as he received the illicit goods, the informant gave a hand signal to police officers who were watching the exchange, and the men were arrested.

On the first defendant’s person, authorities found five rolls containing meth weighing a total of 5gm, while in the box of the second defendant’s motorcycle, two rolls containing 4.3gm of meth.

Four more rolls of 7.5gm of meth were found in the motorcyclist’s home, along with BD55 thought to be drug-selling revenue and small bags used for distributing narcotics.

The defendants’ phones yielded conversations related to selling narcotics, including a menu with prices and quantities corresponding to various substances.

A sample of the 23-year-old’s urine revealed traces of meth, while a sample of the 26-year-old’s revealed both meth and hashish.

After they were convicted of charges at the High Criminal Court and received a hefty decade-long jail time, the defendants took to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to appeal the sentences.

Judges have set February 23 as the date a verdict will be issued on their appeal.

zainab@gdnmedia.bh