Seven men jailed for life and fined BD5,000

seven men involved in a major drug smuggling ring that shipped hundreds of tonnes of hashish from Iran to Bahrain were jailed for life and fined BD5,000 yesterday. Another two were jailed for 10 years and also fined BD5,000 after they were convicted of selling the drugs in Bahrain. Three more were jailed for three years each for their part in receiving and delivering the drugs, as well as using them.
However, only 10 of them appeared in court yesterday to hear the verdict. Two of the men involved in shipping the drugs have already fled the country having previously been convicted on separate drugs charges, which carried jail sentences of 10 years each.All those convicted yesterday are Bahrainis aged 22 to 33.The international drug smuggling operation was brought to an abrupt end during a police raid in Seef in November 2006. The raid followed an investigation in which an undercover Kuwaiti policeman agreed to buy 500kg of hashish from one of the Bahraini defendants at a rate of BD550 per kilogram. Bahraini authorities provided money to be used in the sting operation, along with a car for the Kuwaiti policeman, into which he could load the drugs. He agreed to buy 300kg of hashish the first day and 200kg the next day from a Bahraini dealer and was told to bring BD165,000 for the first transaction.
They allegedly arranged to make the exchange at Al A'Ali Shopping Complex, Seef, but three drug squad officers were hiding in the boot of the undercover officer's car when the dealers showed up.When he handed over the cash to them the three officers burst out of the boot and arrested two drug dealers at the scene, despite them resisting. A third man was later arrested after he initially managed to escape.
During questioning, one of them admitted that the drugs were shipped to Bahrain from Iran, tied to a buoy and dumped in the sea off the Bahrain coast.Four of the Bahraini defendants then found the drugs using a Global Positioning System and brought them into the country.