Manama: Kuwait security officers have arrested a Kuwaiti doctor for reportedly running an illegal casino in the country.
A local report said that 33 other people, including one American citizen and three European nationals, were also arrested in the raid.
The casino, believed to be the largest in the country where gambling is strictly prohibited, charged high fees, Al Qabas daily reported on Thursday.
The police busted the premises after a Kuwaiti man lost 200,000 Dinars (Dh2.60 million) and informed the investigation officers about its existence. Following a close monitoring of the area in the posh Salmiya in the Kuwaiti capital, the police gathered enough evidence to raid the casino and sought a search warrant from the public prosecution, the daily said.
Initial investigations revealed that the American man owned a casino in the US and that the Europeans were professionals who operated in international gambling halls.
The report said that smaller illegal casinos had also been secretly opened in various areas of the country and that a massive raid would be launched. Although gambling is banned in Kuwait, the authorities have conducted intense investigations in claims that the trend of gambling on the Internet was growing.
Media reports in Kuwait City said a large number of young people from different nationalities were gambling through social networking sites. According to the reports, the young people played Poker, Black Jack and Roulette.
