Kuwait’s General Administration of Customs has intercepted a smuggling attempt at Kuwait International Airport, in which a narcotic substance had been concealed inside ordinary A4-sized sheets of paper.
The attempt came to light during routine luggage scanning. Customs officers found 1,603 sheets of paper with a combined weight of 13.154kg, which the authority said had been “saturated” with the substance. It described the material as a “chemical” but did not specify what it was.
The passenger, a French national who had arrived from London on a visitor’s visa, was handed over to the General Administration for Combating Drugs and Alcohol along with the seized material.
The incident follows Kuwait’s largest-ever drugs bust, announced just days earlier, in which authorities seized nearly $500 million worth of pregabalin, a prescription drug sold under the brand name Lyrica. The medicine is primarily used to treat nerve pain and epilepsy, and for anxiety disorders in some countries, but has gained a following as a party drug.
Sheikh Fahad Al Yousef, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, said the haul included five tonnes of pregabalin in powder form and almost four million capsules ready for sale.
