Handball player, customs officer jailed for 15 years for dealing in drugs in Kuwait
The hunt began after police received a tip-off that the player was in possession of drugs
Cairo: A Kuwaiti court had sentenced four people, including a handball player and a customs officer, to 15 years in prison each on charges of dealing in and taking drugs.
The two others are a Kuwaiti citizen and a stateless man while police are hunting for a fifth collaborator: an Egyptian expatriate accused of supplying them with the illicit stuff, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported.
The four were arrested in different parts of Kuwait which is waging a relentless crackdown on drug traffickers and smugglers.
The hunt began after police received a tip-off that the player was in possession of drugs and psychotropic substances. A police raid on his house resulted in seizing in his bedroom satchels of suspected marijuana, hashish and other psychotropics.
The suspect admitted he was in possession of the substances with the purpose of trafficking and using them. He also guided police to partners who were later arrested.
In recent years, Kuwait has stepped up its efforts to combat drug smuggling and trafficking.
Kuwaiti Interior Ministry earlier this month said anti-drug police had thwarted an attempt to smuggle narcotics with an estimated market value of KD1 million.
The Kuwaiti General Department for Combating Narcotics arrested two Asian expatriates in their possession of about 80kg of the drug substance, locally known as Shabu before they could pump them into the market, the ministry added.
Both suspects admitted to owning the seized haul and to having been instructed by a major drug dealer abroad to peddle them inside Kuwait.
Last month, the ministry announced foiling an attempt to smuggle nearly 160 kilograms of hashish into the country. Four persons were arrested in connection to the bid.
Twelve drug dealers were handed down death sentences in Kuwait last year after they were convicted of smuggling or dealing in illicit substances in different cases, Al Qabas newspaper reported last month.
Three of the inmates were caught growing narcotics in home gardens and other places as well as processing drugs with the purpose of trading. The nine others were convicted of possessing and smuggling drugs in collusion with international gangs.