Criminal Court: Death sentence for citizen, Egyptian woman, and her son for cocaine trafficking and money laundering

The Criminal Court, presided over by Advisor Ahmed Al-Sudais and with judges Yousef Al-Salahi and Omar Sadiq, and clerk Ibrahim Al-Farsi, sentenced yesterday a Kuwaiti national and an Egyptian woman, along with her Egyptian son, to death after convicting them of trafficking in cocaine and psychoactive substances, and money laundering from criminal proceeds. The court decided to refrain from pronouncing a sentence on a fourth defendant, instead ordering him to post bail of 500 dinars and to provide a guarantee of good behavior for two years.

According to details of the arrest, a confidential source, in coordination and follow-up with detective officers, managed to agree with the first defendant to purchase three grams of cocaine for 360 dinars at the Al-Zahraa Cooperative Society parking lot. He was caught in the act after completing the sale, and the agreed-upon amount of money and the sold narcotics were found in his possession.

Investigations revealed that the first defendant admitted to possessing the seized items with the intent to traffic and consume them. He also confessed that he obtained the narcotics from the second defendant, who is currently abroad and managed the sales operations through the “Snapchat” application. The third defendant, his mother, was responsible for receiving the drugs and handing them over to the first defendant, then collecting the sales proceeds and transferring them to her son abroad through exchange companies after deducting the agreed-upon percentages.

Search and inspection measures also led to the discovery of quantities of psychoactive substances inside the third defendant’s residence. Investigations indicated that the three defendants participated in managing an organized network for trafficking in narcotics and psychoactive substances, and for laundering the financial proceeds derived from such activities.

Case documents indicated that the first, second, and third defendants also committed the crime of money laundering involving proceeds from drug trafficking. The value of the funds involved in the crime amounted to approximately 73,830 dinars, which were acquired, transferred, converted, and their true source concealed, and introduced into the financial system in a manner aimed at disguising their illicit origin and giving them a legal appearance.