The Ministry of Interior reported that morality police acted on intelligence about an Asian expatriate converting a rented Farwaniya apartment into a production site for locally made liquor intended for distribution. Detectives carried out surveillance and obtained legal warrants before storming the premises, where officers caught the primary suspect in the act of manufacturing and bottling the product. The raid yielded 180 bottles ready for sale, 18 barrels filled with liquor and specialized equipment for distillation and evaporation, all under the authority’s account.
Investigators described the facility as functioning in extremely unsanitary conditions that raised immediate public health risks, according to the ministry’s initial assessment. During questioning the main suspect confessed to having an accomplice in the manufacturing and sales network, prompting officers to set up a controlled operation. The second suspect was arrested upon arrival at the apartment, completing the initial takedown as detailed in the ministry briefing.
The two men admitted that their product was supplied to several Asian buyers who then resold it through an underground distribution chain, a security source familiar with the case stated. Authorities are now tracing additional links in the network to identify further participants. The operation highlighted how residential spaces continue to be repurposed for such activities despite repeated enforcement drives.
Both suspects were transferred to the General Directorate for Drug and Alcohol Control for deeper interrogation and potential charges, the ministry said. This directorate oversees cases involving illicit alcohol production and coordinates with other security branches on related violations. Officials continue examining the seized materials to determine the scale of output and any health contaminants present.
The action forms part of the ministry’s sustained campaign against illegal liquor, an issue that persists despite Kuwait’s outright ban on alcohol production, sale and consumption for non-diplomatic purposes. In a comparable 2025 sweep, authorities arrested 67 individuals and closed at least 10 illicit facilities following methanol-tainted batches that caused 23 deaths, Reuters reported at the time. Such incidents have repeatedly underscored the dangers of unregulated home-based distillation.
Ministry data from prior years indicate dozens of similar factories have been dismantled annually across governorates, often involving expatriate operators and rudimentary equipment in converted living spaces. The General Directorate for Drug and Alcohol Control has expanded its focus on both production sites and downstream distribution rings in response to these patterns. Further arrests in the Farwaniya case remain possible as the investigation proceeds.
