Page 164 - Bahrain Gov annual reports (V a)_Neat

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A gang of seven men were caught after they had broken into two shops in the bazaar
and removed the iron safes. They used a car in which they took the safes on to a place in the
desert where they smashed them open. Surprisingly, they took both safes to the same locality
which was close to where a man who was murdered in Manama was buried some years ago.
The thieves were detected partly because the paint from one of the safes had adhered to the
“box” of the car in which the safe had been carried. Several of the men had previous criminal
records. The money which was said to be in the safes, about Rs. 20,000, was not recovered.
An Arab gave hospitality to an Omani and allowed him to spend the night in his house-
The Omani left early in the morning taking with him his host’s savings, Rs. 1,100/-. He was
caught and sent to prison for a year.
A woman claiming to be a Palestinian refugee entered a house and stole a gold necklace ;
she was arrested and the necklace was recovered, the woman was deported.
Five persons were arrested in connection with a theft, they were found to be in possession
of carpets and a wireless set stolen previously from the house of Dr. Harrison of the American
Mission.
Among the undetected cases were thefts from houses and shops of motor tyres, jewellery,
liquor, piece goods, firearms, and cash.
During the 16 months, 30 persons appeared before the courts on charges of distilling, using
or being in possession of liquor. Towards the end of 1954 the price of Black Market liquor
was lower than it has been for some time, indicating the quantity which is available for illicit
buyers. There is good reason to suppose that much of this liquor is obtained from ships and
from people who have liquor permits and are willing to oblige friends who have no permits,
for a consideration.

Narcotics. Some time after the oil industry in Abadan shut down Bahrain developed into
the centre of the opium traffic of the Persian Gulf. It is hoped that when Abadan reverts
again to normal conditions Bahrain will be freed from this activity.
During the 16 months dealt with by this report 32 persons were prosecuted for being in
possession of or trading in opium and hashish. On several occasions large quantities of opium
were found by the Police but insufficient evidence was available to allow a prosecution, in one
instance seven sacks full of opium were recovered from the sea shore while the boat which
jettisoned them was seen disappearing out at sea. On another occasion a diver recovered a
quantity of opium from the sea near a pier, but the person or persons who threw it into the sea
succeeded in making their escape.
In one case the Police were successful in making an important capture, their success was
mainly due to the Security Staff of the Bahrain Petroleum Company. It was disclosed when
evidence was given in court that a well organised gang was operating in Bahrain on a large
scale, most of the members of the gang were Persians but they had working with them two or
three Arabs who were experienced seamen. Opium was brought to Bahrain in launches or
sailing craft from Persia or from Persia via the Trucial Coast. It was smuggled into Bahrain,
not a difficult matter, and hidden in Manama, Muharraq or Hedd. Arrangements were made
with the crews of foreign ships in Sitra harbour and on an appointed night the opium was loaded
into a fishing boat, taken alongside the ship and hauled on board. Payment was made after
weighing the opium in some place below the deck of the ship, in the case in question it was in
a store which was rarely used.
The gang owned several cars which were used for conveying the opium on shore but when
moving it from one place to another they changed the drivers several times so that it was not
known to all the gang where the opium was taken from or taken to. People in the pay of the
gang on the Sitra pier supplied information by telephone about the movements of ships and
negotiated with members of the crew.
In the case in question the Police arrested some of the gang in the ship while they were
weighing opium, the quantity of opium in this one case was about 900 lbs. It was packed in
small paper-covered “sticks” and was of good quality.
Two of the difficulties facing the Police authorities in the detection of opium smuggling
is the fact that the general public sees no reason why opium smugglers should be interfered with,
the attitude of the man in the street is that it does no harm to Bahrain and brings money into
the place, so why stop it ? Another fact which certainly helps the smugglers is their ability to
spend very large sums of money in bribes. The profits are so large that thousands of rupees
can be spent over each consignment in persuading people merely to look the other way.

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