thedrifter
04-19-06, 03:18 PM
April 19, 2006
Civilians may have smuggled pot into Kuwait
Associated Press
KUWAIT CITY — The Army is investigating allegations that three American civilians used the military postal service to smuggle marijuana into Kuwait, an Army spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The three Americans, who worked as contractors for the military, were arrested by the Kuwaiti authorities on Sunday, spokeswoman Lt. Col. Debbie L. Haston-Hilger said in a statement which did not identify the men.
The statement did not say how the smuggling was discovered, but a local newspaper, The Arab Times, reported Tuesday that police caught the Americans as they were peddling marijuana in the city's downtown.
Under interrogation, the Americans said they had imported the drug through the U.S. military's postal service, The Arab Times reported.
``We are taking this matter very seriously and will take appropriate actions based on the findings,'' Haston-Hilger said.
She added that the men, who worked for the company Westar at the U.S. military's Camp Arifjan, would be barred from U.S. bases in Kuwait.
``The U.S. military and its command in Kuwait expect all military, civilian and contracted personnel working for the military to respect the laws of Kuwait,'' Haston-Hilger said.
Drugs are banned in this small oil-rich state. Possession of drugs as well as their trafficking is punishable by law. Convicted traffickers face the death penalty.
Kuwait has been an ally of the United States since the U.S.-led Gulf War that liberated it from a seven-month Iraqi occupation in 1991. It was the launch pad of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and it remains a major logistics base for troops serving there.
Ellie
Civilians may have smuggled pot into Kuwait
Associated Press
KUWAIT CITY — The Army is investigating allegations that three American civilians used the military postal service to smuggle marijuana into Kuwait, an Army spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The three Americans, who worked as contractors for the military, were arrested by the Kuwaiti authorities on Sunday, spokeswoman Lt. Col. Debbie L. Haston-Hilger said in a statement which did not identify the men.
The statement did not say how the smuggling was discovered, but a local newspaper, The Arab Times, reported Tuesday that police caught the Americans as they were peddling marijuana in the city's downtown.
Under interrogation, the Americans said they had imported the drug through the U.S. military's postal service, The Arab Times reported.
``We are taking this matter very seriously and will take appropriate actions based on the findings,'' Haston-Hilger said.
She added that the men, who worked for the company Westar at the U.S. military's Camp Arifjan, would be barred from U.S. bases in Kuwait.
``The U.S. military and its command in Kuwait expect all military, civilian and contracted personnel working for the military to respect the laws of Kuwait,'' Haston-Hilger said.
Drugs are banned in this small oil-rich state. Possession of drugs as well as their trafficking is punishable by law. Convicted traffickers face the death penalty.
Kuwait has been an ally of the United States since the U.S.-led Gulf War that liberated it from a seven-month Iraqi occupation in 1991. It was the launch pad of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and it remains a major logistics base for troops serving there.
Ellie