Airport Sting Foils 5kg Meth Smuggling Attempt

A High Criminal Court (First Circuit) has sentenced an Asian man in his thirties to five years in prison, fined him 3,000 Bahraini dinars, and ordered his deportation after he completes his sentence. The court also ordered the confiscation of all seized items in a major drug smuggling case involving approximately five kilograms of a psychotropic substance.

The case began at Bahrain International Airport, where a customs officer inspecting incoming air cargo and postal parcels from an Asian country noticed a suspicious shipment addressed to the defendant, identified by both name and ID number.

The parcel was scanned using an X-ray machine, which revealed unusual dense contents. Upon inspection, officers discovered sports bats concealing transparent bags filled with a crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine, weighing around five kilograms. The shipment was immediately seized.

Shortly after, a second parcel from the same country raised further suspicion. Although it was addressed to a different individual, it carried the same identification number linked to the defendant. X-ray scanning again revealed concealed items inside sports equipment with abnormal density. Officers opened the parcel and found similar suspicious materials, which were also confiscated.

The case was then referred from Customs to the Anti-Narcotics Directorate, which coordinated investigations and traced the registered identity linked to the shipments. The suspect was contacted and informed that the parcels were ready for collection. He later requested delivery and shared his location.

Authorities then carried out a controlled operation, with an anti-narcotics officer and a company employee posing as delivery personnel under surveillance. Once the defendant received the parcels, he was immediately arrested.

A search of the suspect also uncovered a sensitive electronic scale believed to be used for measuring and distributing narcotics in precise quantities, further strengthening the evidence of trafficking involvement.