A NOTORIOUS drugs dealer, who was sentenced to prison and whipping in Saudi Arabia after being convicted on narcotics charges in 2012, has once again been found guilty of trading in narcotics.
The 42-year-old Jordanian, who ran a hashish-smuggling racket, received a 15-year jail sentence and a fine of BD10,000 at the High Criminal Court.
Twelve other defendants stood trial alongside the kingpin and were all found guilty of various drug use charges.
Ten of them, including his 36-year-old brother, were sentenced to a year in prison and fined BD1,000. A Bahraini female defendant, and the man’s 27-year-old sister, who has an infant child, the court heard, were sentenced to six months in prison and fined BD100.
Half of the dozen co-defendants are Jordanian, while two are Bahraini and there is a Lebanese, Saudi, Sudanese and an Egyptian.
All non-Bahraini suspects in the case – nine defendants – will be deported after completing their sentence, and all narcotics will be confiscated.
The GDN earlier reported that the Jordanian trafficker decided to settle in Bahrain after his imprisonment in Saudi, with his family living between the two countries.
According to an Anti-Narcotics Directorate officer, the directorate received secret intel that the brothers, as well as a Jordanian and Egyptian defendant, were trading in drugs.
“Through our investigation, we learned that the first defendant’s brother and sister, along with another Jordanian defendant, smuggled hashish from Saudi on his behalf,” he said.
“They concealed it creatively to avoid detection as they crossed the King Fahad Causeway into Bahrain. Their leader would promote the drugs to his acquaintances for profit.
“The leader couldn’t go himself because he previously served jail time in Saudi, and was sentenced to punishment by whipping, and was finally deported, based on a previous drug conviction in 2012.
“He started living in Bahrain after his time in prison ended. He was able to possess quantities of drugs because his accomplices brought them into the country for him.”
The Egyptian defendant used his position as a general manager of a company to cover receiving earnings through the business’s accounts, the court also heard.
A police officer, who searched the 42-year-old’s kingpin’s home, found an assortment of illicit substances, including bags upon bags of a powdered material, various prescription pills, crystallised substances, and five chunks of marijuana.
Policemen also stated they found a half-smoked joint, an electronic grinder, five digital scales, scissors with drug residue on them, and five packages of cigarette wrapping paper.
Cash was also reportedly found – BD689, $265 (BD100), 8 Jordanian Dinars (BD4.300), 345 Egyptian pounds (BD2.70), 20 Moroccan dirhams (BD0.83) and 150,000 Lebanese lira (BD0.63).
Three gold accessories, one gold chain and a watch were further found in his apartment.
In Public Prosecution questioning, he admitted to owning all of the listed contraband. He also confessed to using drugs, stating that he bought 1.5kg from an unidentified man four times in one year.
The Jordanian mastermind’s brother was found guilty of using hashish, while his sister was found guilty of using Lyrica. Of the other defendants, nine were found guilty of using hashish, two of cocaine, three of Lyrica, three of tramadol, two of synthetic cannabinoids, and one of Valium, amphetamine and methamphetamine.
The dozen was arrested, one after the other, over two weeks between September and October.
The main dealer was found guilty of possessing an array of narcotics for personal use: hashish, cocaine, tramadol, pregabalin (Lyrica) and diazepam (Valium).
In the fourth defendant’s house – a 50-year-old Lebanese expatriate – cash notes valued at $1,500 (BD566) and 10,500 SAR (BD1,050) were found, and more drugs were found in the 11th defendant’s home, a 43-year-old Jordanian.
At an earlier hearing, the sister, a young mum, begged judges to release her after claiming that her infant son had forgotten her after she spent four months in jail.
She addressed the court, pleading to be given a second chance – to be allowed to return to Saudi Arabia to see her child and to renew her residency.
Beside her short speech before the court, the Arab woman had submitted three handwritten letters to judges over the course of the trial, explaining to judges that she was about to lose custody of her son.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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