Kuwait court sentences five Iranians to death in drug case

Dubai: Kuwait’s Court of Appeal has sentenced five Iranian nationals to death after convicting them of smuggling and trafficking narcotics into the country, in one of the most serious drug cases heard this year.

The ruling was issued by an appeal panel headed by Judge Dr. Fahd Bu Salib and reflects Kuwait’s tough penalties for cross-border drug offences and its ongoing crackdown on narcotics trafficking, local media reported.

According to case findings and the defendants’ statements, the group travelled by boat toward Kuwaiti waters carrying illegal drugs. Coast Guard patrols intercepted the vessel shortly after it entered territorial waters and ordered it to stop.

Security forces had earlier seized the boat, confiscated the narcotics on board and arrested the suspects at the scene. The ruling remains subject to further legal challenge before higher courts under Kuwait’s judicial process.

Kuwait’s recently amended anti-narcotics law provides for severe penalties, including capital punishment for large-scale drug smuggling and trafficking, as authorities step up enforcement to deter organised cross-border drug networks.