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A delivery driver who got on his bike to flee, after an off-duty policeman saw him stashing drugs under an AC unit, crashed into the wall of a nearby building, the court heard.
The 25-year-old expat, who works as a rider for a delivery company, was sentenced to five years in prison and fined BD3,000 for possessing and selling crystal meth, also known as shabu.
The High Criminal Court also ruled to deport the Pakistani man after completing his sentence.
“In November, I was taking a walk around my house in Umm Al Hassam when I saw the defendant placing an object in an air conditioning (AC) hole of a house near mine,” the Bahraini officer testified.
“When he sensed my presence, he got on his motorcycle to get away, but he crashed into a wall and then the bike’s delivery box fell off, revealing a secret bag containing drugs.
“I went to the place where I saw him putting something earlier, and I found a plastic bag containing a crystal substance. I immediately lodged a report with the police.”
An Anti-Narcotics Directorate officer, who was tasked with responding to the report, saw the shipment hidden in the base of an air conditioning unit and noted that it contained a crystallised material.
He examined the items which fell out of the delivery compartment, including a meal, a receipt from a restaurant and a satchel bag containing a total of 19 bags of what was later confirmed to be methamphetamine.
The satchel also contained a sensitive scale and empty bags used for the distribution of the merchandise.
Although the defendant managed to get away, he was seen in Hamala exactly a month later, and was apprehended on suspicion of dealing in narcotics.
During questioning, the Pakistani admitted to working as a rider not just for the food delivery company, but also for a drug kingpin, executing dead drops around the country on his behalf.
He claimed that he worked for a man named ‘Hamza’ from whom he received BD10 a day for carrying out dead drops in nine locations per day.
The man admitted to charges of possessing drugs for trading purposes.
A search of his phone reportedly yielded a photo of a white, powdery substance on a scale.
‘Dead mail’ or ‘dead drops’ are a method of drug distribution that involves hiding, or sometimes burying, narcotics in a pre-determined spot for a buyer to later pick up.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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