RIYADH: New information about the confiscations made by the Kuwaiti authorities revealed that there were two containers full of coal stuffed with Captagon pills which entered Kuwait, coming from Ukraine on its way to the Kingdom.

The smuggling effort was thwarted by Kuwaiti authorities, in cooperation with the Directorate General of the Anti-Drugs Department of the Kingdom. These 1.5 million Captagon pills were worth 3 million Kuwaiti dinars.

The details, which were published by Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai, said that customs officers let the shipment pass through Al-Shuwaikh Port to catch the person who was behind this crime red handed. The report said that the person who received these two containers was a Syrian expatriate. He was arrested when he was handing over the shipment to the accused Saudi.

The newspaper said that the Syrian and Saudi were investigated. The Syrian confessed that he had agreed with a Ukrainian gang to obtain a forged civil card for importing coal shipments. Once he handed the shipment over to the Saudi, he would get half a million riyals.

The report said that the Saudi was working with his partners abroad to hide the Captagon pills in the coal, and that the shipment would be stored in Kuwait until the gang in Ukraine gave him further instructions on handing the shipment over to two Saudis, who would transport it via land routes into the Kingdom. He would get half a million riyals to be divided between him and the Syrian expatriate.

Both expatriates and the confiscated items were turned over to the anti-narcotics department and the necessary action is being taken against them, according to the newspaper.

Earlier, a website reported that the Kuwaiti anti-drug department, in cooperation with the Saudi anti-drugs department, had aborted the effort to smuggle 1.5 million Captagon pills.