TDT | Manama
Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
A young man recently found dead in a Bahrain hotel room is believed to have died from deadly tobacco, police said.
Authorities said the victim and her friend purchased the contaminated cigarettes from a drug peddler they met outside the hotel.
Police said the victim was an Asian national who had just arrived in Bahrain last year and had a habit of buying cigarettes laced with illegal drugs from these peddlers and smoking them.
A Bahraini court sentenced the drug trafficker to 15 years in prison and a fine of BD10,000, while a friend of the deceased was given a lighter sentence of 1 year in prison and a fine of BD1,000.
However, the drug traffickers have appealed the sentence and the High Court of Criminal Appeal is scheduled to hear the sentence on November 19th.
After the defendants complete their sentences, they may be prohibited from re-entering the country and may be deported.
According to court documents, police were notified of the death by the hotel reception and then alerted by the victim’s friend who was in the same room.
During interrogation, the friend revealed that the victim had smoked cigarettes purchased for BD5 from an acquaintance outside the hotel out of curiosity, without realizing that they contained a deadly substance.
The suspect told police, “After smoking, my friend went to sleep but didn’t wake up,” adding, “I immediately reported it to the hotel front desk.”
Police officers quickly arrived at the scene and rushed the victim to the hospital while questioning his friend.
Police said they also found an undisclosed amount of illegal drugs during a search of the hotel room.
The victim’s friend later admitted that he regularly purchased drugs from a dealer near the hotel.
Following his description, police identified and arrested the drug dealer, who was later confirmed by a friend of the deceased to be the person who had sold him the deadly cigarettes.
Further investigation revealed that drug traffickers were operating near the hotel, targeting street customers.
Prosecutors charged the suspects with possession and distribution of illegal drugs in Saudi Arabia.