Three Bahrainis have been jailed for life for smuggling 110kg of hashish worth millions of dinars into the country.

The sailors were arrested after they retrieved the drugs from the seabed on January 3 last year, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Two of them, aged 23 and 29, fished the drugs out of the water using fishing nets after they were dumped at an offshore location by two drug-runners, an Iranian and a Saudi.

The Coastguard intercepted the shipment as it was being transported to Bahrain by boat, according to prosecutors, adding the whole operation was monitored by police helicopters.

The 28-year-old defendant, who ran the drug smuggling operation from Bahrain, was later arrested at his home when one of the men snitched on him.

However, the two men who delivered the hashish were never arrested.

All three Bahrainis were yesterday convicted of drug smuggling, and possessing hashish and prescription pills with the intent to sell.

The High Criminal Court sentenced them to 25 years each and fined them BD5,000 ($13,158) each.

"The three men were convicted of smuggling drugs into the country, possessing hashish and prescription pills to sell, based on evidence provided by prosecutors," read court verdict documents.

"The court trusts the evidence provided in the case, in addition to one of the men's confessions about carrying out the drug smuggling operation with his co-defendants.

"He also added that one of his co-defendants planned out the smuggling operation and ordered them to carry it out.

"The person who organised the operation was later arrested at his home in possession of a kilogram of hashish, prescription pills and BD300 believed to be money received for drug dealing."

Other narcotics were also found in the possession of the defendants, two of whom previously served time for drug dealing, according to court documents.

"The whole operation was observed and filmed by two police helicopters that carried out surveillance in turn after one of them ran out of fuel," read case files.

"Two of the defendants, who were on the boat, were seen in possession of the drugs before they took it into Bahraini waters and dumped it near an island.

"They received it from an offshore location north of the country. They later pretended to be fishing at the island near Bahrain moments before they were arrested.

"Two boats belonging to the Coastguard arrested the men, and confiscated 930 pills labelled Lexus along with other drugs."

Defence lawyers earlier argued that their clients were simply fishing when they were arrested. They said they will lodge appeals against the convictions at the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court. - TradeArabia News Service