A van driver who smuggled drug-infused papers by hiding them in a photo frame has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The defendant was found guilty of importing synthetic cannabinoids for trafficking purposes and of possessing hashish and methamphetamine (shabu) for personal use.
The High Criminal Court also fined the 20-year-old Pakistani BD10,000 and ordered that he be deported after completing his sentence.
A pair of framed photos, showing a happy couple on their wedding day dressed in traditional attire, had arrived in Bahrain from Lithuania via air mail, addressed to the defendant. Behind these photos, authorities discovered several papers saturated with unregulated CBD oil, weighing a total of 381gm.
He admitted to the charges before the Public Prosecution and claimed that his shabu dealer – identified only as ‘Abu Bakr’ – had offered him 400,000 Pakistani Rupees (BD538) to work as his deliveryman.
The defendant, who worked as a driver earning a monthly wage of BD200, told the prosecution that he was recruited by the dealer in Pakistan who sold him shabu for BD14 per gram.
“I started using drugs – meth specifically – two months before my arrest, which I bought from Abu Bakr via dead drops and consumed through smoking,” the defendant stated.
“One day, Abu Bakr asked me if I wanted to work as a distributor or deliveryman for him, in return for cash and free shabu.”
According to the Public Prosecution, the smuggling was organised by ‘international drug operatives’, but Abu Bakr’s identity was not uncovered.
The package was flagged by customs during routine screening of incoming mail, as Customs Affairs officers noticed ‘an unusual concentration of contents within’, and the defendant was arrested when he came to collect it.
“Inside were photo frames of an Asian wedding, and within them were several papers saturated with fluids thought to be of a narcotic nature,” an officer earlier testified.
Upon searching him, authorities discovered a pack of cigarettes that contained a glass pipe and a small piece of paper saturated with CBD oil. A urine test detected traces of hashish in his system. Photos of drugs were also reportedly found on his phone.
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