Kuwait cuts drugs trafficking by 90%, eyes death penalty

KUWAIT: Launching a “real war” against drugs, Kuwait has succeeded in cutting trafficking by 90 percent over the past year, First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah announced on Sunday. The minister explained that the price of narcotic pills is now seven or eight times higher than a year ago due to unavailability as a result of the clampdown.

“Pills that normally cost one dinar before are now costing seven or eight dinars,” said the minister, reflecting successful efforts by authorities to clamp down on smuggling and trafficking of narcotics. “Interior ministry authorities have been engaged in a real war against trafficking of drugs” the minister told reporters after opening a new facility for the treatment of drug addicts.

He said the government is contemplating ways to bring treated addicts back to their jobs as a way of helping them avoid going back to drugs. Over the past year, the interior ministry has announced a number of drug hauls, seizing large quantities of narcotics including hashish, heroin, various types of pills and others. A large number of people were arrested in the busts.

Sheikh Fahad said a new anti-drugs law will be presented to the government either this week or the next and it will expand the death penalty in the legislation in a bid to curb smuggling and trafficking in drugs. At present, the death penalty is mandatory for major drug traffickers, but in the new legislation, people trafficking drugs while in jail or those who facilitate bringing drugs into jails face the death penalty.

Senior officials who facilitate trafficking in drugs exploiting their positions also face capital punishment, according to a committee set several months ago to introduce amendments to the drugs law to be make it tougher. The new legislation is expected to stipulate random testing for all servicemen and women in the interior ministry, the military and the like for drug abuse.

Sheikh Fahad thanked the general department for drug control for its efforts in foiling drug smuggling attempts and dismantling drug dealing networks. Sheikh Fahad hailed Kuwait’s achievements in fighting drugs and rehabilitating addicts. He added these achievements are the result of hard work by the state security and health institutions. He noted the interior ministry has received two Arab awards in recognition of its success in fighting drug trafficking. He thanked parents, teachers, and employees for helping to report addiction and support treatment efforts.

Source: kuwaittimes.com, B Izzak, October 26, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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