Recently seized 4 mln Captagon drug pills carry street value of KD 20 million: report
We’re prepared to protect citizens, residents: customs chief
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 24: As the investigations continue into the biggest seizure of drugs – about 4 million Captagon pills, the Al-Qabas daily quoting the security sources said new details and surprises have popped up and one of them is that the street value of the seized drugs is about 20 million dinars.
The sources pointed out there are specialized gangs out there which target young people, the students in particular. Each pill is which is sold for 5 dinars and are sold in residential areas through ‘special’ people.
The sources said the smuggling of huge quantities of drugs such as these is dangerous because Captagon pills are known to damage the health of the people and is considered as one of the worst kinds of drugs. Although the sale price of the pill looks small, the smugglers of the drug reap huge profits.
The sources pointed the drugs traffickers aim to make Kuwait a transit point for these narcotic pills and the investigations have revealed the drug dealers used new methods of smuggling the pills in a professional manner, but the vigilant customs officers thwarted the attempt.
The sources said the container arrived at the Shuwaikh port on June 16 from Syria by land and for quite some time no one showed any interest to clear the documents from the shipping agent and then the following Wednesday morning, customs officers spotted a Syrian after collecting the documents and then he went to the customs building in Shuwaikh to complete the procedures.
The sources said the man was allowed to continue but put him under surveillance and when he arrived in the container yard, he was stopped and the container was subjected for inspection where the inspectors found millions of pills.
The Syrian was taken into custody and he made a detailed confession and admitted that he has partners in Kuwait and abroad. The investigations are ongoing to identify his accomplices.
For his part, Director General of the General Administration of Customs, Counselor Jamal Al-Jalawi, has stressed the readiness of the General Administration of Customs men to protect the country and the citizens and residents.
Kuwait to appeal: Kuwait will appeal a recent Irish Labor Court verdict which quashed the claim of its embassy to diplomatic immunity from Irish labor rights laws, reports Al-Rai daily quoting an Irish newspaper.
The drug pills seized by the customs.
In a decision in July, the Labor Court ruled that the Kuwaiti Cultural Office employee Nada Kanj could bring a case against her employer under the Unfair Dismissals Act.
That decision followed a Workplace Relations Commission ruling last year, when the commission said it had no jurisdiction to rule in the case because it found that the office had diplomatic immunity from Irish employment law.
Kanj successfully appealed that case to the Labor Court, and papers filed in the High Court earlier this week show that the State of Kuwait is itself appealing that decision.
Kanj, who holds dual citizenship from Lebanon and Ireland had filed a case to the Workplace Relations Commission following the termination of her employment in the Kuwaiti Cultural Office in Dublin in 2017.
Kanj told the court that her role during her employment was of administrative nature, and that it did not involve the use of any public powers or governmental authority and did not touch on the business of the State of Kuwait, but focused only on the paper side, data entry, communication with students, and attend graduation ceremonies.
In response, the Kuwaiti embassy lawyer told the court that the role of Kanj was in the context of a comprehensive government approach, noting that, as an academic advisor, she played a key role in implementing government policy.
However, after reviewing the evidence, the Labor Court’s deputy chairman Alan Haugh found that Kanj’s role did not involve the exercise of any public powers or governmental authority.
Haugh said Kanj’s position as an academic advisor did not touch on the business of the State of Kuwait in a way that entitled it to rely on diplomatic immunity.