KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Interior Ministry announced Thursday the arrest of what it described as the country’s largest criminal network smuggling and distributing the controlled substance Lyrica, seizing nearly 800,000 capsules and a large quantity of Lyrica powder.
In a statement, the Ministry said the General Department for Drug Control, under the Criminal Security Sector, led the operation which dismantled the international ring that was importing and promoting the psychoactive drug in Kuwait. The confiscated items are valued at “large sums of money,” the Ministry added.
According to the statement, the main suspect — a Kuwaiti national already serving time in Central Prison — is known to authorities for multiple drug trafficking cases and has several convictions on record. Investigators tracked one of his accomplices, described as a stateless resident (bidoon), who was caught selling capsules to an undercover source. Continued surveillance led authorities to a remote livestock pen, or jakhour, in the Kabd area that the group had been renting through a Kuwaiti intermediary for KD 600 per month.
During the raid, “the suspect put up violent resistance, causing damage to a security vehicle,” the ministry said. Inside the facility, authorities discovered large quantities of Lyrica capsules and powder, along with tools used for packaging and distribution.
Further investigation revealed the inmate had orchestrated the shipment of a large drug consignment from an unnamed Asian country via air freight. Customs officers were alerted, and upon inspection of the cargo terminal, authorities found “seven large boxes” packed with Lyrica capsules.
The ministry stressed that the General Department for Drug Control remains committed to “intensive efforts to monitor and apprehend drug traffickers and promoters,” adding that “anti-narcotics officers will remain a strong shield against this dangerous scourge.”
