Coast Guard patrols in Bahrain have succeeded in foiling an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of narcotics via the sea from Iran.

The operation was launched after the Maritime Operations Centre had suspicions about a boat sailing in the north of the kingdom despite a maritime ban.

A chase was launched by the patrols and the boat, in a bid to escape, tried to reach shallow waters.

However, the patrol servicemen managed to stop it, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The two Bahrainis on the boat, both in their 20s, were held. The first suspect has a drug-related criminal record while the second suspect is the owner of the boat.

Investigation in cooperation with the Anti-narcotics Directorate revealed that the two suspects were involved in drug trafficking cases.

The two suspects had dumped the narcotics provided by an Iranian drug trafficker to the first suspect in the sea.

However, the Coast Guard managed, through the radar system, to find the narcotics concealed in rubber tyres tied with a rope and retrieved them. The seized narcotics were 33 kilogrammes of hashish and less than 1 kilogramme of methamphetamine, the ministry said.

The seized narcotics are worth more than BD284,000, the statement added.

Legal proceedings were taken and the case was referred to the Public Prosecution.

source: AFP