A man, who stashed nearly 40 baby shampoo bottles filled with CBD oil in a private farm in Nuwaidrat and faced 15 years behind bars, has lost his final appeal at the Cassation Court.
Judges heard of his drug offences and his unsuccessful legal battles as he ended up a loser once again.
The 32-year-old stood trial at the High Criminal Court alongside two other defendants. One was acquitted after he helped police catch the appellant and the other was found innocent of a drugs-related charge.
In January 2024 the appellant was found guilty of trading in a spiked vape juice and using pregabalin (Lyrica) and meth for recreational purposes, and also fined BD10,000.
Three months later he took to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to appeal the ruling, but judges decided to uphold it, which led him to seek a final chance at Bahrain’s highest court. He was unsuccessful.
Instead, the Bahraini from Wadyan was given a harsher sentence due to already having several criminal convictions on record. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2010 but the penalty was reduced to seven years on appeal.
Following a tip from his now-pardoned accomplice, authorities raided the man’s farm, where a stock of narcotic-filled bottles were found. Police also found used needles, illicit pills and cash hidden in a shed.
In his initial trial, the accomplice claimed was ‘coerced into ratting (the appellant) out’ and went on to disavow statements he made against him in a handwritten letter he submitted to the court.
“All of my confessions are false because they were made under pressure and threats – investigators promised to let me go immediately if I brought any suspect forward,” read the co-defendant’s letter, presented at the initial trial.
“He’s got nothing to do with selling drugs, and only uses his farm to raise pets. When I was asked to give police a name, I thought randomly of him and told them.
“I realised I was tricked into reporting him and I was laughed at by police,” the entrepreneur claimed.
The pardoned co-defendant walked free after confessing to the charges because he helped the authorities to arrest the ringleader in the act of selling synthetic cannabinoids.
The GDN earlier reported that the man had helped the appellant market CBD oil on social media app TikTok, and sold the oil on behalf of his partner-in-crime for BD100 per 10m after taking a BD20 cut of each sale.
The third co-defendant was charged with recreational use of Lyrica but was found not guilty after judges received a note from his psychiatrist saying that he was using it under prescription.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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