Manama: Kuwaitis were suprised when news came out that a well-known actor who has been in the news for the extravagant lifestyle of him and his wife was arrested for trafficking in drugs.
Adel Musallam, described by the Ministry of Interior as a “big drug supplier” without naming him, was arrested on Saturday when he was preparing a narcotic substance”, in collaboration with an Iraqi accomplice, for marketing purposes.
The General Directorate for Drug Control said in a statement carried by Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) that it received information that a dealer, 46, was bringing drugs to sell them in the country.
The supplier was arrested and admitted during his questioning that he kept an office that included a laboratory in a shopping complex to prepare drugs. He also admitted that he took orders to sell narcotics in a European country.
He reportedly used fictitious names on the orders to conceal the nature of the banned content he was exporting.
A large amount of drugs was seized during the raid on the premises.
Al Musallam’s profile in the media received a boost after he married Bahraini artist Al Mahra, 25.
The couple, with an age difference of 21 years, chose to get married on Valentine’s Day following a love affair that lasted more than three years.
A month after their marriage, Al Musallam and Al Mahra used a public show on television to praise each other and to exchange expressions of love and terms of endearment, showing off the romantic side of their marriage.
Al Musallam often boasted about the properties he owned and the lavish gifts he had offered his wife, including a plane.
His extravagant behaviour often raised questions as to how he could have accumulated such wealth in such a short time.
Al Mahra once famously told him on a television show not to talk about his assets “to avoid the jealousy and envy of others”. He once said he had founded four companies in the Czech Republic in a matter of four hours.
Al Musallam, who is also a producer, helped Al Mahra shoot to fame in 2003 when he offered her starring roles in a Kuwaiti play. He subsequently made her the star of three other Kuwaiti plays, including in ‘Scream of the Ghosts’ in 2015.
In her first reaction following her husband’s arrest, Al Mahra, in a social media post, prayed to God to give her “fortitude to bear the tragedy”.
