Drug peddling case: Court upholds verdict against five accused

Manama : The Supreme Appeals Court yesterday upheld the sentences issued against five Asian men convicted in connection with a drug case. 

The accused were earlier handed down sentences between 1 to 10 years in prison, but they were all ordered to be expelled from Bahrain once they completed their jail term. 

Three of the accused were slapped with large fines of BD10,000 each while their co-accused were ordered to pay BD3,000 each. 

The five men were charged with using marijuana illegally, but the first, second and third accused were also indicted for peddling the drug. 

The incident unfolded when the first accused, a Filipino, was discovered possessing drugs for the purpose of selling. Therefore, he was tracked down by an officer in plainclothes, who eventually contacted him and requested him to buy BD50 worth of marijuana. 

He accepted the money and asked him to meet him in Riffa. Police officers stalked him when he handed the drugs to the undercover agent. 

The accused, who was working as a manager in a local restaurant, admitted to his crimes during questioning, telling prosecutors that his friends - the other defendants - were also involved with him. 

He expressed readiness to help prosecutors to arrest them red-handed. And he trapped them.