KUWAIT: The ministry of interior announced on Friday that the criminal security sector, represented by the general department of criminal investigation — anti-financial crimes department and the maritime ports investigation department — in cooperation with the general administration of customs, has dismantled an organized gang involved in smuggling petroleum products abroad using forged customs documents.
In a press statement, the ministry said the case began with information received from the general administration of customs about 10 export containers. The goods were declared as “iron” but were found to contain petroleum products, spread across two customs declarations belonging to two commercial companies.
Investigations revealed that the shipments were linked to two Kuwaiti suspects — one employed at Kuwait Municipality and the other a police sergeant at the ministry of interior — along with two accomplices, one of Asian nationality and the other of Arab nationality. The group had been collecting petroleum products in Kabd, storing them in containers and flexible tanks, and preparing them for shipment using falsified customs documents.
Upon raiding the site in Kabd, authorities discovered a facility equipped for preparing containers and storing petroleum products. Three additional suspects, all of Asian nationality, were arrested at the site. The ministry added that during questioning, the suspects confessed and confirmed that the first defendant, the municipal employee, had been running the smuggling operation for about eight months, averaging two shipments per month.
Further investigations also implicated another Kuwaiti suspect, a customs inspector at Shuwaikh Port, who allegedly facilitated the passage of shipments through customs channels. The ministry noted that the farmland in Kabd used for storage and preparation was leased from an Arab national — currently outside the country — who represented a company. He had unlawfully subdivided the agricultural land and rented it to industrial and construction firms for personal gain, in violation of agricultural distribution regulations.
The ministry of interior affirmed that security agencies will continue to intensify efforts to combat smuggling and fraud, stressing that protecting the nation’s resources and economic security is a top priority that will not be compromised. — KUNA
