AN expatriate, who allegedly dealt in drugs including hashish and methamphetamine, commonly known as shabu, is standing trial at the High Criminal Court, where he will learn his fate next month.
The 38-year-old Pakistani labourer from East Riffa was reportedly caught in the act by the authorities while attempting to deliver the substances using the dead drop method.
According to court documents, an officer from the Anti-Narcotics Directorate received a report on the defendant at the East Riffa Police Station.
The report, which came from an unidentified source, stated that they saw the defendant driving around in Riffa’s Block 913 in a silver car.
The witness claimed that they saw the Pakistani man get out of the vehicle, and leave suspicious looking packages, which they immediately suspected contained drugs.
After receiving the report, the officer formed a task force with the aim of monitoring the individual and apprehending him in the act.
A number of patrols were sent to Block 913 to track down the individual and spot any suspicious activities in the area.
On May 19, at around 5.30pm, while patrolling the area, he saw a man, which he described as ‘Asian’, leaving something in an empty field in the area and taking a photo of it.
The officers sprung into action immediately and confronted the man, who turned out to be the Pakistani defendant, and inspected the item that he had left on the ground.
It turned out to be an envelope, sealed with sticky tape, that contained a crystalline substance, believed to have been shabu.
They questioned the defendant, and he told the officers that he worked for another Pakistani man, and that he had hidden another envelope nearby to where they were.
The officers found the second envelope, which contained more crystalline substances, also predicted to be shabu.
An inspection of the defendant and his belongings revealed about BD360 in cash and 2,400 Saudi Riyals in cash, both of which were believed to have been proceeds from trading in drugs and psychedelic substances.
They inspected his car, and identified it as the same exact vehicle that the witness had seen and reported.
An orange bag with 13 envelopes sealed with sticky tape was also found inside, each one filled with a dark substance believed to have been hashish.
Another 31 envelopes sealed with sticky tape were found containing crystalline substances, along with two rolls of sticky tape.
Further investigations revealed that the man was working as part of a drug smuggling ring inside the kingdom that mainly dealt with psychedelic substances.
Upon interrogation, the defendant admitted that he would deliver the substances using dead drop locations around the area.
He would receive the substances from a fellow Pakistani national, and was tasked with preparing them and storing them.
He was then referred for trial at the High Criminal Court, where he appeared yesterday and admitted to the charges against him, even though he claimed that he had no idea that he was delivering drugs.
The case has been adjourned until September 16, where judges are expected to issue a verdict.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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