Man held for growing marijuana in Kuwait

Investigators are probing whether or not the man was working alone or had partners

AJordanian expatriate was arrested in Kuwait for growing marijuana in his residence in the Hawalli area.

Security sources said that officers from the General Directorate for Drug Control received a tip-off and launched an investigation.

They then secured a warrant from the public prosecution, raided the home, and arrested the expatriate, Kuwaiti daily Al Rai reported yesterday.

During the questioning, he confessed that he had brought the seeds from abroad.

The plants were seized and he was referred to the general directorate for further investigation and to determine whether he had partners or accomplices, the daily added.

In 2013, a Bangladeshi gardener was arrested for planting marijuana plants along with the similar-looking plants in his employer’s garden.

The police detained him after they acted on a tip-off about the man’s suspicious activities. His Kuwaiti sponsor denied any knowledge about the operation. Later, the suspect admitted that he brought the seeds from Bangladesh and that he grew the marijuana without his employer’s knowledge.

In July 2010, Kuwait’s criminal court sentenced a Kuwaiti national to death by hanging for growing marijuana in his garden.

Sons released

The man was arrested by the police following tips that he used his garden in Al Qusoor, in Al Mubarak Al Kabeer area, to grow marijuana and sell it. His sons, initially included in the investigation, were freed.

Three months earlier, the interior ministry said that its officers raided the biggest marijuana garden in Kuwait.

The house owner was arrested “under the influence of drugs” and in possession of a number of marijuana plants, the police said, without giving details about how many plants were seized.