20/10/2026
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20/10/2026
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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 20: The Criminal Court has sentenced a Kuwaiti municipal employee, identified as the main defendant in a network accused of smuggling and selling subsidized diesel abroad, to seven years in prison. An Indian defendant was handed the same sentence.
The court also sentenced four Indian defendants to one month in prison each, while acquitting a customs officer, a Ministry of Interior sergeant and an Egyptian marketing manager.
The case involves allegations of customs forgery, smuggling subsidized diesel out of Kuwait and reselling it abroad after purchasing the fuel from the relevant authorities.
According to the charges, the first three defendants allegedly assisted an unidentified person in forging a customs declaration used to complete customs clearance procedures. They were accused of attempting to remove subsidized diesel from Kuwait and re-export it after purchasing it from the concerned authorities.
The fourth, fifth and sixth defendants were accused of conspiring with and assisting the first three defendants in customs smuggling by preparing containers and filling them with diesel for export and sale outside Kuwait.
The seventh defendant was accused of participating in forgery, sale and smuggling offences involving the diesel, while the eighth defendant, a public employee, was charged with forging official documents, including two customs declarations and exit permits related to the case, and participating in the alleged forgery, smuggling and sale of diesel.
Ten containers declared as iron
The Ministry of Interior had previously announced that the Criminal Security Sector, represented by the General Department of Criminal Investigation’s Financial Crimes Department and Sea Ports Investigation Department, had uncovered an organized network allegedly smuggling petroleum products abroad illegally.
The operation was conducted in cooperation with the General Administration of Customs following information about 10 containers prepared for export whose actual contents did not match the declared description of the goods as iron.
Investigations revealed that the containers contained petroleum products covered by two customs declarations registered under two commercial companies.
The case was referred for legal action following the investigation into the alleged smuggling operation and the suspected use of forged customs documents to facilitate the export of subsidized diesel.
The court acquitted three defendants — a customs officer, a Ministry of Interior sergeant and an Egyptian marketing manager — while imposing prison sentences on the other defendants as specified in its judgment.
