Accused drug smuggler confess of mobile sim-shifting habits

DT News Network

news@dt.bh

A drug smuggler recently caught by the Bahraini security personnel told the authorities that he "would rarely use a sim card twice" after he was found in possession of mobile 27 sim cards.

This was revealed after security personnel in Bahrain seized 2.5 kilograms of heroin worth thousands of dinars from an apartment in Manama. The drugs were seized by authorities following a sophisticated operation, which involved tracking four Pakistani men who flew from Pakistan to deliver narcotics to an apartment in the capital city.

Officials captured the four men as well as some other men who were the mastermind behind the crime. Among the captured was a Pakistani man who revealed a strange habit of his when he confessed that he possessed 27 sim cards and that he "rarely uses a sim card twice", Interior Ministry Publication, Al Amn stated.

Authorities were alerted by a source about the drugs even before the men landed in Bahrain. "Investigation began after sleuths from the Anti-Narcotics Directorate were tipped off about the arrival off four Pakistani nationals to Bahrain. The information received by the sleuths suggested that the four suspects would arrive in into the country on four different flights and would be carrying the heroin. Officers then mounted a vigil at the Bahrain International Airport and identified the four one by one. But in a novel method, the four suspects were only kept under watch and not confronted." Al Amn stated.

Anti Narcotics Director Colonel Mubarak Bin Huwail said "The idea was to see where they went and to whom were the drugs delivered. We were keen that we identify and nab the main suspects rather than only the carriers.”

“It is always better to get the kingpins because they are the brains behind the operation. The carriers were nabbed so were the kingpins, " he was quoted as saying.

"It was important that they were caught red handed so the prosecution could be easier. We took a calculated risk in the way we operated the case but we planned it to perfection and everything fell into place." he added.

Commenting about the man who possessed 27 sim cards, he said, "This is a novel method that they use to avoid detection."