A man faces 25 more years behind bars for selling, using and giving away hashish after having earlier served a decade-long term in jail on similar charges.
The High Criminal Court sentenced the ex-convict, who never learnt his lesson, to life in prison after catching him in the act of trying to sell ‘weed’ to an Interior Ministry secret source.
The 37-year-old Bahraini driver had reportedly stashed more than BD17,000 of illicit drug earnings inside the TV table of his living room, along with seven buds, or pieces, of the plant in his fridge.
A search of his car yielded two more buds, equalling 617 grammes, according to police officers.
On Christmas day last year, a police officer from the Anti-Narcotics Directorate had set up a sting operation in a bid to catch the defendant red-handed.
An informant agreed with the defendant ahead of time, via a phone call made under police supervision, to buy 26gm of hashish for BD250. Upon exchanging drugs and cash, the defendant was apprehended, taken into custody and had his home searched.
In the man’s Sitra residence, police found cash amounts totalling BD16,948 along with 1,010 Saudi riyals and $111 (BD41.800), a sensitive scale and cigarette rolling paper.
Two knives and a pair of scissors used to cut the merchandise, with traces of hashish on them, were also found, according to detectives.
A search of the defendant’s phone also yielded voice recordings, text messages and photographs that reportedly proved he was selling narcotics, along with incoming BenefitPay transactions and receipts, corresponding to payments he received for his wares.
“I had been provided intel about a person who received large quantities of hashish, stored, prepared and packaged it in order to promote and sell the substance,” a police officer told the Public Prosecution.
“One of our informants managed to build a relationship with the defendant and the two agreed to meet in Sitra for a drug sale, near the defendant’s residence.”
The informant had gone to the meeting spot using an Interior Ministry-owned civilian car, stated the officer. He revealed his true identity to the defendant and officially arrested him.
The defendant admitted to using hashish and methamphetamine, and giving away one or two grammes of hashish at a time to his friends. However, he denied selling drugs. Traces of hashish were found in his urine sample and the confiscated buds were taken to a forensic lab and were officially identified as marijuana.
Judges also issued him with a BD5,000 fine and his car was confiscated by court order.
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