Kuwait dismantles five-member drug trafficking ring

Kuwait City, Aug 26 (IANS): Kuwait's Interior Ministry has dismantled an international drug trafficking network and seized 60 kg of marijuana and hashish worth some 750,000 Kuwaiti dinars ($2.45 million).

In a statement posted on social media platform X, the ministry said the International Control Division of the General Directorate of Drug Control successfully dismantled on Sunday the network that was smuggling drugs from a European country to Kuwait via Kuwait International Airport, Xinhua news agency reported.

The network is made up of five individuals, including two employees of the Kuwait General Administration of Customs, who “abused their positions to facilitate the smuggling process,” the statement said.

“Arrest of an international criminal network composed of 5 defendants who smuggled drugs into the country, and who were in possession of (60) kilograms of marijuana and hashish. The value of the seized items is estimated at (750,000) thousand Kuwaiti dinars,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement in Arabic.

“As part of the intensive security efforts deployed by the Criminal Security Sector to combat drug trafficking and foil all attempts to smuggle them into the country, regardless of the diversity of methods and tricks used,” the ministry's statement continued.

All suspects and seized items were handed over to the Narcotics Prosecution Bureau for further legal proceedings.

The ministry's statement also said that anyone “daring to harm” the country's security and stability would face strict measures without exception.