Kuwait busts $485 million drug op in country’s biggest-ever seizure

Kuwaiti authorities have dismantled what officials described as the largest drug trafficking operation in the country’s history, seizing prescription medication with an estimated street value of around 150 million dinars (approx. $485 million).

The operation was announced on August 25 by Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al Yousef Al Sabah, Caliber.Az reports, citing Gulf-based news outlets, according to whom authorities had seized approximately five tonnes of raw Lyrica powder and nearly four million capsules that had already been prepared for distribution.

Lyrica is the brand name for pregabalin, a prescription medication used to treat conditions including nerve pain, epilepsy and generalised anxiety disorder.

The investigation also uncovered a fully equipped facility allegedly used to manufacture the drug, along with machinery for filling and packaging the capsules, Sheikh Fahad, who also serves as the First Deputy Prime Minister, said.

He revealed that the bust was carried out the previous day and demonstrated the scale of the threat that Kuwait’s anti-narcotics officers had managed to disrupt.

Sheikh Fahad announced the operation during the closing ceremony of a national anti-drug awareness campaign organised by the Ministry of Social Affairs in cooperation with government agencies, private-sector companies and civil society organisations.

He stressed that combating drug trafficking remains one of the Interior Ministry’s top priorities, saying authorities are stepping up efforts to pursue smugglers and dealers, strengthen surveillance and enforcement, and disrupt drug supply networks.

By Nazrin Sadigova