Asian drug lord sentenced to 10 years in Bahrain

TDT | Manama                                                              

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A Bahrain judge has sentenced a man, an Asian national designated as a drug lord, to 10 years in prison. The High Criminal Court also awarded ten years to another man who, police said, was a delivery agent for the drug lord.

The court also slapped a fine of BD10,000 each on both of them. Three other men implicated in the same case received a much lighter sentence of six months in prison on charges of drug abuse.

Police said they arrested the suspects following a tip-off received. The information said that a group of men are peddling heroin in Bahrain. After verifying the correctness of the information, police said they assigned an undercover agent to get in touch with the suspects.

The agent posing as a buyer approached the suspects and established a relationship. After winning their confidence, the agent also placed a BD50 worth order with them and agreed to make the payment at a place of choice.

On the day of the deal, even though police waited for the first suspect, setting a trap, the drug lord didn't come. Instead, he sent the second suspect with the drugs to complete the deal. Police took him into custody as soon as he handed over the heroin to the undercover agent and took the money.

During interrogation, officers said the suspect confessed to his crimes and revealed the whereabouts of the main suspect. After securing a warrant, police raided the man's hiding and detained him alongside three others.

The trio turned out positive for using drugs during a medical examination. The court also ordered the deportation of all the men after completing jail terms.

Transit points

According to the United Nations, Turkey acts as a prominent transit country for heroin.

The UN report also refers to the high levels of amphetamine seizures in recent years. The report says amphetamine seizures from countries in the Middle East continue to refer predominantly to tablets bearing the Captagon logo.

The nature of the psychoactive ingredients in such tablets is not always clear, but reports suggest that amphetamine trafficked from SouthEast Europe is the main ingredient in Captagon tablets found in the Middle East, frequently alongside caffeine.

Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Syria serve as important transit points, the report adds. In North Africa, large seizures of cannabis herb are reported from Morocco.