Sheikha Noora bint Ibrahim al-Khalifa is a member of the ruling family of Bahrain. She is also an undercover police officer, working for her country’s anti-narcotics division. This makes her the first royal, and woman, to work as a plainclothes officer in the Gulf nation.
Sheikha Noora began her job over a year ago, but slowly worked her way into going undercover – and she loves every minute of it.
“I loved the thrill and the feeling of being close to catching dealers and suppliers,” she says.
“My job now is working undercover, heading my team. We watch suspects as well as capture them – occasionally befriending some of them or pretending to buy.”
While Noora admits working so closely with drug dealers can be dangerous, she says she has yet to get into any real danger. “I always worry I will be infected. I try to be careful, but this is the risk of this job.”
The Sheikha says her fascination with being a cop began as a young girl.
“I was quickly affected by the police movies I watched and was glued to the TV screen.”
But watching crime stories on TV was not enough. Noora would study Social Services at Bahrain University, and then later go for her master’s in the same subject in Jordan. It was during that time she was drawn to helping those addicted to narcotics.
“I studied 120 cases of addicts at the Almoayyed Drugs and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre,” she says.
“I saw the suffering and the pain they felt – their families abandon them and their wives leave them and they become a shame to the community.”
Sheikha Noora soon realized addiction drove these people to a life of crime, and she then focused on stopping drug dealers from luring the addicts to such a life.
Noora joined Bahrain’s Interior Ministry, and worked as educator for a while. Then finally, last year, she joined a squad and eventually began working undercover. She often poses as a drug user to dealers during her schemes. Right before the dealer gives her the drugs, Noora’s team shows up and an arrest is made.
“One of my proudest moments was when my team was able to seize 75kg of hashish after seven continuous days of work.”
Although Noora says she gets a “thrill” from her job, she admits it is tiresome. She gets many sleepless nights, and does not always see friends. She also did not have the support of her family at first.
“My brother supports me, but my father was initially not happy with my choice of career,” she says. “However, he respects my decision. If my mother was alive she would have been proud of me.”
Sheikha Noora hopes she will be a role model for other women, and they would follow in her footsteps.
“I realized that when I entered this career, I would open more doors for my fellow females to join this force. Women have become pilots and doctors, but it’s nice to be the first to enter a field like this as I feel I opened the door for others to join.”
