The Ministry of Interior reported the arrest of three suspects by Kuwait’s General Directorate for Drug Control following intensive surveillance and investigations. The individuals stand accused of possessing narcotics, psychotropic substances and alcoholic beverages for the purposes of both trafficking and personal use. Authorities uncovered evidence during the operation that the suspects had concealed profits from their activities and converted some of those gains into valuable assets, the ministry stated in its release. The case forms part of sustained efforts to disrupt drug networks at both the operational and financial levels.
The ministry’s statement listed the confiscated narcotics as 120 Lyrica capsules, 150 grams of Lyrica powder and 60 tablets of additional psychotropic substances. Officers also recovered three bottles of alcohol and one sensitive scale during the search. These materials, together with the other items, were transferred to the competent authorities along with the three suspects for further legal proceedings. The operation reflects routine enforcement activity conducted across multiple cases in recent weeks.
Financial assets formed a substantial element of the seizure according to the interior ministry. The statement detailed KD 40,000 in cash identified as direct proceeds from the sale of psychotropic substances and alcoholic beverages. Investigators additionally recovered four valuable watches estimated at KD 50,000 and seven kilograms of gold valued at approximately KD 311,000, both allegedly acquired with illicit earnings from the trafficking. Such recoveries form an increasingly important component of narcotics investigations.
This action continues a pattern of operations that produced notable reductions in drug-related crime earlier in the year. In a June 2026 briefing Brigadier General Mohammad Qabazard, director general of the General Directorate for Drug Control, told the Kuwait News Agency that smuggling cases had declined from 102 in the first half of 2025 to 15 in the corresponding period of 2026. Trafficking cases fell from 354 to 184 over the same timeframe, Qabazard added. The ministry attributed the improvements to stricter enforcement and the effects of updated anti-narcotics legislation.
The ministry’s mid-year assessment recorded 1,564 suspects arrested in 1,200 drug cases during the first six months of 2026. Forces seized 323 kilograms of narcotic substances, 635,000 drug pills and 9,000 bottles of alcohol in that period according to official figures. Authorities also deported 614 expatriates linked to these networks while documenting 346 addiction cases. The data illustrate both the scale of ongoing enforcement and the persistence of demand for treatment services.
Full-year figures for 2025 released by the directorate showed 3,871 suspects detained in 3,039 cases with approximately three tons of drugs and nearly 10 million psychotropic pills confiscated. Those operations resulted in the deportation of more than 1,197 expatriates involved in trafficking or related activities. The General Directorate for Drug Control has indicated that it will maintain pressure on both supply chains and the financial mechanisms that support them through continued preemptive actions.
