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An appeals court has overturned a verdict acquitting a woman of smuggling more than a kilogramme of methamphetamine into the kingdom on a flight from Lahore, Pakistan – and sentenced her to five years in prison.
It also ruled to fine her BD3,000 and ordered to deport her after completing her sentence.
In April, the High Criminal Court had ruled to exempt the 23-year-old Pakistani from punishment after she ratted out her 31-year-old accomplice and husband-to-be, who was found guilty of facilitating the smuggling and abetting her.
He was sentenced to five years in prison, fined and ordered deported after completing his jail term.
However, the Public Prosecution took to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court, having earlier asked the High Criminal Court to penalise the defendants ‘to the fullest extent of the law’.
“The prosecution has informed judges that in the woman’s case the conditions for acquittal have not been satisfied,” read a statement.
“The information she gave to the police was not special, and did not lead to the identification of the co-defendant; his role in the smuggling was discovered through investigations into the case.”
The GDN earlier reported that the woman claimed that her spiteful step-mother had planted the drugs in her luggage to get her into trouble, and that she had no knowledge of the meth hidden in her suitcase.
However, a search of the contents of her phone revealed images and videos of crystalised and powdered substances, believed to be that of the stimulant.
In the initial verdict, judges stated that there was no doubt that the woman knew of the contents of her suitcase, but she was eligible to benefit from a law that allowed those who help police catch accomplices to be spared punishment for their crimes.
“The defendant co-operated with the police after her arrest to find the individual who arranged her trip to Bahrain, providing his full name and information that he was aware of the situation,” read the verdict.
On the fiancé’s phone, authorities found chat logs that included images of dead-drop locations, along with photos of drugs placed on a digital scale.
Upon arriving in Bahrain, the woman’s luggage was flagged as suspicious by Customs officers who then discovered a stash of 1.3kg of meth powder concealed in the base of her suitcase.
Less than two weeks later, her future husband was arrested while trying to board a flight to Pakistan, as he was marked as a suspect in the immigration system.
He claimed that he decided to go home and sell a piece of land so he could bring back money and pay for his wife-to-be’s defence fees.
While the woman was charged with smuggling narcotics with the intention of selling them, the man was charged with being her accomplice, helping her come to the country and organising the whole scheme.
He reportedly spent BD170 on her travel arrangements, first getting a visa on her behalf, then booking her flight tickets and hotel stay.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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