Officers from Kuwait’s Capital Security Command acted on information from the operations room about a suspicious gathering behind a commercial complex in the Salhiya area. The team arrived to discover the four Asian men playing a card game classified as gambling under local law. The security source reported that authorities confiscated various gambling tools along with cash amounting to 800 Kuwaiti dinars from the group, which was then referred to concerned authorities for legal action.
The Ministry of Interior has conducted repeated campaigns against illegal gambling as part of its efforts to enforce public morals and maintain order. A security source stated that such operations occur regularly across governorates in response to public tips and observed violations. In May 2026 the Criminal Investigation Department raided a house in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and arrested 20 Asian expatriates who were gambling during the Eid holiday, according to a Times Kuwait account that noted the men were fingerprinted and sent for deportation.
Kuwaiti regulations ban all forms of gambling with penalties that include fines, imprisonment and deportation for expatriates. The Public Morals Protection Department frequently participates in these enforcement actions alongside criminal security units. Similar raids have yielded cash, playing cards and other paraphernalia that serve as evidence in subsequent proceedings, a security source indicated.
The Ministry of Interior reported that Asian expatriates have appeared in many documented gambling cases over recent years although comprehensive annual statistics have not been released publicly. Operations in districts such as Salhiya and Hawalli have targeted both small gatherings and larger networks. In September 2025 officers dismantled an electronic gambling platform in Hawalli that involved seven individuals and moved tens of thousands of dinars through unofficial channels, according to an interior ministry statement.
Investigators from the General Department of Criminal Investigation will question the four men to establish whether they acted alone or maintained links to other parties. The seized items will be logged as evidence during the case review process. A security source confirmed that all standard procedures were followed in the Salhiya arrest to ensure compliance with legal requirements.
The interior ministry has supervised multiple anti-vice initiatives throughout 2025 and 2026 as elements of a wider strategy to uphold the rule of law. Comparable actions have addressed both physical gambling sites and online platforms that attempt to circumvent restrictions. Officials continue to encourage residents to report suspicious activities through official channels to support ongoing enforcement.
