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The criminal trial of a drug-dealing duo resulted in two drastically different rulings for each defendant – with one walking free, while the other being sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The two men were accused of colluding to smuggle crystal meth, ‘professionally’ concealed in checked bags on a flight from Karachi to Bahrain, and also of trading in heroin.
The High Criminal Court, ruled to acquit the first defendant, aged 34, to whom the luggage belonged, for informing on his co-defendant, aged 45.
After the Pakistani man decided to co-operate with the police, a sting operation was carried out to arrest the second defendant and more narcotics were found in his rental house.
The second defendant was sentenced to 10 years behind bars, fined BD5,000, and judges ruled to deport him after the completion of his sentence.
“The first defendant was acquitted because he informed on another criminal, who the police could not have otherwise been able to identify and apprehend,” read the verdict.
“Since his co-operation led to an arrest, the defendant qualifies to be pardoned of the penalty, as per Article 53 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law.”
The 34-year-old defendant was arrested as he was about to leave the airport. In his luggage, authorities found several bags of crystallised methamphetamine.
“We scanned bags arriving from Karachi via Sharjah and noticed two suitcases with a higher-than-average concentration of matter in the bottom,” said a Customs Affairs officer.
The Pakistani visitor, who does not reside in Bahrain, was handed over to the Anti-Narcotics Directorate. He admitted that he was directed to meet a man upon his arrival, to whom he was instructed to give his shipment.
An exchange was set up by the first defendant, as was asked of him. Little did the second defendant know that it was a trap, and he was arrested after receiving the goods.
A house in Sitra, rented by the 45-year-old, was searched, and more meth was found, in addition to heroin.
A pair of notebooks, that he used to keep records of the inventory and sales of the narcotics, was also discovered.
The suspect wrote down dates, quantities, locations and phone numbers related to his illicit business in Urdu, and a forgery expert confirmed that the handwriting did indeed belong to him.
The court heard that smart phones belonging to the defendants contained images and recordings of more crystallised materials, as well as photographs of seemingly-random areas, and hotel reservations for a planned stay in Bahrain.
Article 53, under which the younger suspect was pardoned, exempts anyone who voluntarily informs the public authorities about the crime committed before they are aware of it from penalties such as jail time, fines and even capital punishment.
If the report is made after the authorities become aware of the crime, exemption from punishment shall require that the report leads to the arrest of the remaining offenders or the identification of those who participated in the crime.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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