A Bahraini duo who tried to smuggle drugs including cannabidiol (CBD) into the country using a package from the UK appeared before the High Criminal Court yesterday.
A 22-year-old man from Ramli and a 25-year-old jewellery saleswoman from Hidd are facing charges relating to the possession, use and sale of drugs from January 2024 to July 2025.
Products allegedly smuggled and used include synthetic cannabinoids, methamphetamine, commonly known as shabu, and heroin.
According to court documents, an officer from the Anti-Narcotics Directorate stated that he received a report on the duo’s activities from a customs officer who was inspecting a package that had arrived from the UK.
The customs worker put the package, which arrived on June 21 at around 6pm, through a scanning machine, and after becoming suspicious of its contents, opened it to find a liquid substance that was suspected to be about 1.2kg of CBD.
On June 28, the defendants were called in after they were informed that their package had arrived, and were later interrogated regarding its contents. They both claimed that they had no idea what was inside it.
The officer from the Anti-Narcotics Directorate proceeded to arrest them and inspected their vehicle with the help of another officer.
They discovered two containers of liquid substances, believed to have been CBD, two plastic bags of crystalline substances that looked like shabu, a plastic bag containing heroin, and another unidentified liquid substance that was allegedly used with the drugs.
The duo were then referred to the Public Prosecution, who immediately launched an investigation into their illicit activities.
It was revealed that the two defendants were working as part of a network that distributed drugs and psychedelic substances in the kingdom in exchange for money.
It was believed that they dealt in the substances using the ‘dead drop’ method, which is used to pass items or information between two individuals via a secret location.
During interrogation, the 22-year-old admitted to the charges against him, stating that it was his duty to receive the package, knowing that it contained CBD and other drugs.
The 22-year-old accused would receive the drugs and store and prepare them as instructed, before they were sold to clients.
In return, he would take half of the supply for his own personal use and then sell the rest.
The 25-year-old saleswoman also admitted to the charges against her, adding that they would sell CBD and other products to their friends and that most transactions were done using the BenefitPay app.
The accused’s phones were also confiscated and inspected, and the officers discovered conversations with others regarding the sale of the substances.
They were referred for trial at the High Criminal Court, where they stood yesterday.
As the 25-year-old woman did not have a lawyer, the case was adjourned until Sunday when she is expected to be assigned one.
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