Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef announced the details of a major anti-narcotics operation conducted the previous day that has been designated the largest in Kuwait’s history. The raid netted around five tons of raw powder used to manufacture Lyrica together with nearly four million capsules already prepared for distribution and a fully equipped production site that included machinery for filling and packaging the product. According to the minister the street value of the haul reached KD 150 million equivalent to roughly $486 million while anti-narcotics personnel acted on intensified security efforts that prevented the material from reaching the local market.
Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef delivered the announcement at the closing ceremony of the national anti-drug awareness campaign. He described the campaign as more than an awareness initiative framing it instead as a collective message that safeguarding the country’s youth remains a shared duty across society. The minister added that the dangers associated with such substances reach beyond individual users to threaten families entire communities and the long-term future of the nation.
The operation dismantled an integrated factory dedicated to Lyrica production which authorities linked to organised efforts to flood the local market with the psychoactive drug. Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef noted that the discovery of both raw materials and finished capsules alongside the manufacturing equipment demonstrated the scale of the attempted distribution network. A Ministry of Interior assessment placed the bust ahead of all prior seizures recorded in the country.
This action surpasses earlier large-scale operations including a 2023 Interior Ministry raid reported by The National that recovered half a tonne of Lyrica powder and 15 million pills valued at KD 30 million from a site near the Saudi border. That earlier case according to the same outlet involved an international network smuggling the substance in powder form from China before pressing it into tablets within Kuwait. The current KD 150 million seizure therefore represents a fivefold increase in estimated value over that previous benchmark.
The Directorate General for Drug Control has maintained consistent pressure on trafficking routes in the years since with a 2024 summary of operations listing multiple seizures of Lyrica Captagon and other psychotropic substances across air sea and land borders. Those earlier actions which a local press compilation attributed to directives from senior ministry officials resulted in arrests and the removal of millions of pills and kilograms of powder from circulation. Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef has repeatedly identified narcotics enforcement as a top priority for the ministry.
Lyrica known chemically as pregabalin is a controlled substance prescribed for neurological conditions but subject to strict regulation in Kuwait because of its potential for abuse as a recreational drug. The minister’s Tuesday announcement underscored ongoing vigilance by security agencies that have expanded cooperation with customs and international partners to intercept such shipments before they enter the domestic supply chain. All seized materials and related equipment have been secured for further investigation and legal proceedings.
