The Ministry of Interior announced the destruction of 21 tankers and trucks on September 8, 2026, following directives issued by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah. The vehicles had been impounded in two distinct cases involving the theft of subsidized diesel for collection, transport and resale on the black market. Eight tankers and trucks were processed in the first case while 13 were handled in the second once public prosecution measures concluded, the ministry said in its statement.
Some owners of the tankers had leased the vehicles through contract-hire agreements even though they knew the equipment would be deployed in the illegal activity, according to the ministry. This arrangement enabled the systematic diversion of diesel that is sold locally at subsidized rates. Investigators uncovered the leasing details while examining how the stolen fuel moved from government and commercial sources to secondary markets.
The Ministry of Interior stated that the crushing of the vehicles is designed to deter anyone who supplies or employs equipment in criminal enterprises with full awareness of their purpose. Such steps also work to strengthen adherence to the law while shielding public finances and the state’s subsidized resources from ongoing exploitation. The announcement framed the destruction as one element in a continuing series of operations aimed at fuel-related offenses.
Four days earlier on September 4, 2026, the ministry reported dismantling a separate diesel theft network that led to the arrest of 41 suspects and the seizure of 38 vehicles belonging to government agencies and private companies. The General Department of Criminal Investigation, through its Capital Governorate unit, found that drivers had siphoned fuel from vehicles entrusted to them and delivered it to a site in Amghara for storage in dedicated tankers and subsequent resale. A Kuwaiti citizen was identified as providing the tankers for a monthly fee of 1,600 dinars while aware of their use in the scheme.
The Directorate General of Customs has recorded multiple major interceptions of subsidized diesel smuggling, including a 2023 case that halted nearly one million liters hidden in 33 containers and valued at more than two million dinars, an Al-Qabas compilation showed. Across operations spanning 2024 and into 2025, authorities seized more than 5.5 million liters distributed among over 200 containers, according to the same customs data published by the newspaper. These earlier tallies illustrate the scale of organized efforts to profit from the gap between local subsidized prices and higher external resale values.
In December 2025 the ministry disclosed the discovery of 10 additional containers filled with diesel inside a government-owned property that had been improperly rented out as storage, resulting in four arrests. That action formed part of a wider probe into a gang specialized in stealing and attempting to export petroleum products. The pattern of enforcement has included tighter controls on land allocations and vehicle registrations to limit opportunities for large-scale diversion of subsidized fuel.
