Kuwait busts country’s largest drug network in major anti-narcotics operation

Dubai: Kuwaiti authorities have dismantled the country’s largest known criminal network involved in the smuggling and distribution of psychoactive drugs, seizing over 800,000 Lyrica capsules and arresting several suspects — including a key figure already serving time for drug-related offences.

The Ministry of Interior confirmed that the General Department of Drug Control, operating under the Criminal Security Sector, executed the operation after weeks of surveillance and coordinated investigation.

Investigations revealed that the smuggling ring was being orchestrated from within the Central Prison. The main suspect, a Kuwaiti national currently imprisoned for previous narcotics crimes, was found to have been directing the network from behind bars.

His accomplice, a stateless resident already known to law enforcement, was tracked outside the prison after allegedly selling a quantity of Lyrica to an undercover informant.

Authorities traced the contraband to a makeshift storage site in the Kabad area — a livestock enclosure, or jakhour, rented under the name of a Kuwaiti citizen for KD 600 per month. The site was reportedly used for storing, packaging, and distributing the banned medication.

When police raided the location, the suspect violently resisted arrest, damaging several police vehicles in the process.

A search of the facility uncovered significant quantities of Lyrica capsules, powdered Lyrica, and equipment used for repackaging the drug for distribution.

Under interrogation, the imprisoned mastermind admitted to coordinating the shipment of narcotics from an undisclosed Asian country. The consignment was reportedly smuggled into Kuwait through air freight.

Following this admission, authorities, in collaboration with the General Administration of Customs, inspected a cargo facility at the airport, where they discovered seven large boxes filled with hundreds of thousands of Lyrica capsules.

“This is a major blow to organised drug trafficking operations in Kuwait,” the Ministry of Interior said in a statement, stressing the government’s ongoing efforts to dismantle smuggling networks and safeguard the public from the threat of drug abuse.