Kuwaiti researcher hired to treat addicts in prison caught peddling drugs to inmates
Convict jailed for 7 yrs, officils vow to investigate how drugs entered prison undetected
Dubai: A Kuwaiti research psychologist has been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 6,000 dinars (Dh71,812 or $19,550) after being found guilty on four charges, including attempt to smuggle drugs into the central prison where he worked to treat prisoners suffering from addiction, according to Al Qabas newspaper.
The accused was caught hiding pills of psychotropic and other narcotic substances. An investigation revealed that he had been using his position to introduce poison to prisoners instead of treating them. The court, presided over by Counsellor Abdullah Al Othman, found the accused guilty of betraying the trust placed in him and putting the lives of prisoners in danger.
The accused was found guilty on four charges and acquitted of one charge of receiving a bribe as it was not proven against him. He will serve a seven-year prison sentence and pay a fine of 6,000 dinars for four other charges.
The case has shocked the Kuwaiti community, and authorities have vowed to investigate how the accused was able to bring drugs into the prison undetected.
This is not the first case of officials trying to smuggle drug into prison. Last June, a military guard at a central prison in Kuwait has been apprehended on suspicion of smuggling drugs and mobile phones to inmates.
The suspect was allegedly involved in smuggling the banned items to prisoners in return for big sums of money, Al Anba reported at the time, citing a security source.
“The man took advantage of his job in escorting sick inmates at the Central Prison to and from hospitals in smuggling drugs and mobile phones and exploiting his military capacity to personally bring in these prohibited items,” the paper said.
Some inmates, caught with the stuff, admitted to the involvement of the guard who stayed away from the workplace after learning that his misconduct had been unmasked, the paper added.
The suspect was later arrested in his apartment where police found an unlicensed firearm.