The General Administration of Customs reported that inspectors at Terminal 5 carried out the operation under the supervision of Saleh Al-Omar the Deputy Director General for Ports and Customs Investigation and Research. A thorough check of the passenger’s luggage from Bangladesh revealed three bags with the marijuana six bags holding the methamphetamine and 31 bags containing the ecstasy pills. The administration transferred the seized items and the suspect to the Directorate-General for Drug and Alcohol Control for further action while the individual remained in police custody.
Ecstasy pills fall under the schedule of psychotropic substances as a hallucinogenic material the General Administration of Customs noted in its account of the Terminal 5 case. This seizure occurred amid routine screening of inbound international flights that have drawn increased attention in recent months. The administration has described such operations as essential to blocking narcotics before they reach local markets.
Three days earlier on September 18 the General Administration of Customs detailed a separate interception at Terminal 4 where officers found 530 grams of hashish 1.15 grams of cocaine and 4,144 Lyrica capsules in the luggage of a passenger from Beirut. That case followed identical inspection protocols and ended with the preparation of legal reports and referral of the suspect to narcotics authorities. Both incidents underscore the coordinated checks applied across airport terminals according to the administration’s updates.
The Ministry of Interior reported that its General Directorate for Drug Control arrested 13 suspects in 10 cases during the first half of September 2026 alone. Those operations recovered nearly 5 kilograms of methamphetamine almost 5 kilograms of hashish more than 14,500 Lyrica capsules and additional items including cash and scales the ministry’s statement indicated. Such results form part of a pattern of intensified campaigns that have produced multiple seizures throughout the year.
In August 2024 the Ministry of Interior announced the breakup of a five-person international ring that had moved 60 kilograms of marijuana and hashish valued at KD 750,000 through the airport. Two members of the group held customs positions and used them to aid the smuggling the ministry’s release explained at the time. That earlier case highlighted vulnerabilities that have since prompted stricter internal oversight at entry points.
The General Administration of Customs continues to coordinate closely with the Ministry of Interior and specialized drug units on all airport-related matters. Official figures from the ministry place airport interdictions among the primary tools for disrupting supply lines before narcotics can be distributed domestically. Authorities have referred every recent seizure and associated suspect to prosecution under applicable laws.
