Dubai: Kuwait’s General Administration for Drug control announced that a First Sergeant from the Ministry of Interior was arrested after being found guilty of drug trafficking.
The First Sergeant was caught in possession of half a kilogram of hashish.
The officer has promptly been referred to the Public Prosecution for further legal proceedings against him.
As per Kuwaiti law, individuals found in possession of illegal drugs are subject to stringent penalties, including imprisonment and fines. The law stipulates a prison sentence ranging from five to ten years and a monetary fine of 10,000 dinars for drug possession, as long as there is no intention to distribute or traffic the substances.
For individuals under the age of 21 caught with drugs, they are placed in a social welfare institution and subjected to police supervision for a duration equivalent to their time spent in the institution. Meanwhile, individuals found using drugs can face up to seven years in prison.
Earlier in March this year, the Kuwaiti Public Prosecution ordered the detention of an officer in the Ministry of Interior and five defendants for 21 days in the Central Prison, who were arrested on charges of smuggling large quantities of narcotics from Iran.
According to well-informed sources, the defendants, including an officer and three Kuwaitis and two Iranians, denied the charges against them when they appeared before the Public Prosecution.
According to statistics issued by Central Statistical Bureau in 2020, more than 75 percent of murders committed in Kuwait had a close relationship with drug abuse. Lawyers say drug abusers commit crimes to pay for their drugs, or while they are under the influence of drugs.
Also last March, a Kuwaiti research psychologist was 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 found the accused guilty of betraying the trust placed in him and putting the lives of prisoners in danger.
