An appeals court has upheld the life sentences of three Bahraini men, including two brothers, who were convicted of smuggling more than 350kg of hashish through territorial waters.
In August, the High Criminal Court sentenced four men to 25 years in prison and fined them BD5,000. Three of them contested their sentence at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court, which struck down their pleas.
The court earlier heard that the men were in correspondence with the leader of a narcotics-smuggling network based in Iran, who supplied them with large quantities of hashish.
He reportedly sent co-ordinates in Bahrain’s territorial waters, where his accomplices could pick up the cache from Iranian individuals, then distribute and sell the drugs once they returned home.
The brothers, aged 32 and 43, owned a boat and sailed to remote spots in the sea to pick up drugs, while a 48-year-old business owner was said to have used his popular grill restaurant as a cover for his illicit activities.
Three other Bahrainis were sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in the initial August ruling.
All six male defendants were found guilty of possessing and trafficking hashish.
In November, the grill restaurant owner lodged an objection against the ruling at the Court of First Instance, as he was not present during the initial trial, but judges dismissed his objection. He had also been convicted of possessing synthetic cannabinoids (CBD) and methamphetamine for personal use.
Meanwhile, a 19-year-old Moroccan girl stood trial alongside the other suspects, and was found guilty of using hashish, methamphetamine and alprazolam (Xanax). She was sentenced to a year in prison. The Supreme Criminal Appeals Court also upheld her sentence.
The GDN earlier reported that the Anti-Narcotics Directorate had received a tip from informants about an organised network that imports narcotics from Iran to sell them in Bahrain.
“The network is headed by a man named ‘Ali’, who operates in Iran, and is aided by the first and second defendants, who receive monetary compensation for their assistance,” read the initial verdict.
“After picking up the shipments at sea, they hide them with the help of their co-defendant. Then, they begin selling the cache in stages to the third defendant, who pays for the drugs and subsequently promotes them.
“Two defendants split the revenue after sending the leader, Ali, his previously agreed-upon share. The money is sent to Ali through another defendant, exploiting his possession of a commercial registration (CR) for his restaurant.
“His role was to take the revenue generated from selling the drugs, circulate it through bank accounts belonging to his businesses, and eventually transfer it to accounts under Ali’s control.”
More than 350kg of hashish was smuggled into Bahrain in three sea-bound exchanges, according to the policeman.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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