KUWAIT: The mere coincidence of spotting a wanted female citizen touring Europe as a tourist was recently behind discovering a serious security breach at Kuwait International Airport, and led to the arrest of a five-member gang which had been helping wanted people flee the country for up to KD 20,000.
In this regard, security sources said that a citizen recently informed the office of the Interior Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Criminal Security Affairs Major General Abdul Hameed Al-Awadhi that he had seen a female citizen in a European country though he knew that she was banned from travelling because she was wanted for financial claims of up to half a million Kuwaiti dinars.
The sources added that on conducting proper investigations, security forces learnt that the 38-year-old female citizen had been wanted for fraud, was sentenced to 18 a year and a half in prison and is also wanted for 7 other cases with half a million Kuwaiti dinars’ financial claims.
The sources added that it appeared that the suspect had left the country and returned several times without facing security obstacles, and that she had been living in an apartment in Maidan Hawalli since her last return a few days ago.
A warrant was issued and she was arrested. During initial investigations, the suspect confessed and told police that she had paid KD 5,000 to an Egyptian law firm’s advisor to help get her out through the airport per time.
She added that another Egyptian female employee was the link. Arresting and interrogating the two Egyptians, they told police that two female and one male citizens working at the airport had been receiving considerable amounts of money in return for allowing wanted people out of the country.
The three were later on arrested and confessed to making up to KD 10,000 every month from their ‘business,’ and that they could not remember the total number of wanted people they helped out because they were ‘too many.’
