Kuwait: Officer and soldier at interior ministry sentenced for five years over drugs
In another case, parents plead against releasing drug-taking sons for fear of harm
Cairo: A Kuwaiti court has sentenced an officer and a soldier to five years in prison each after convicting them in a drug case.
The defendants, an officer at the Interior Ministry and a soldier at the Defence Ministry, were convicted of taking drugs, Kuwaiti news portal Almajilis reported. It was not clear when the case surfaced.
Parents in Kuwait have recently appealed to judicial authorities not to release their children convicted on drug taking for fear they could cause harm to others, Almajilis also said.
Last week, a father pleaded with the judge to renew the detention of his drug-taking son, arguing that he is dangerous to other members of the family.
In another case, two parents asked a judge not to release their drug-addict son for fear he would harm his sister allegedly because he imagined she repeatedly left the house even though she was there. The report did not say what the judicial decisions were.
In recent months, Kuwait has ramped up efforts to combat drug smuggling and trafficking.
Last month, Kuwaiti authorities announced busting a drug haul of an estimated market value of KD1 million ($3.2 million).
The Interior Ministry said the anti-drug police had seized 85kg of the drug substance locally known as Shabu with an Asian man working for an international ring and receiving instructions from abroad to peddle drugs inside Kuwait.
In August, the ministry said 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 that Shabu haul.
Both suspects admitted to owning the seized drugs and to having been instructed by a major drug dealer abroad to peddle them inside Kuwait.
In July, the ministry announced foiling an attempt to smuggle nearly 160 kg of hashish into the country. Four persons were arrested in connection to the bid.