It wasn't all that long ago the western "infidel", in a bid to protect "international investments", rolled into Kuwait City, bristling with the latest high-tech weaponry, to fight a foe who was barbaric, inhumane, and a threat to Iraqi and as a result, Arab Emirate democracy.

The high profile gulf war is for the most part, over, but thats not to say barbarism and human rights infringements are too. We're simply not looking as closely as we were.

While the United States allows medical marijuana, elsewhere people are swinging from the gallows for sometimes small amounts of cannabis resin or "hashish" as its called in the region. And while the cocaine prisoners of America wait to find out if they will be included in the thousands of cases which had their sentences reduced, in Kuwait City, even a small amount of cocaine, is enough to get you a death sentence.

Add hashish and cocaine together, and even being a member of the royal family won't save your neck.

Moamen Al-Masri, special reporter for the Arab Times, takes up the story.

The court also upheld the ruling of the lower court that sentenced Sheikh Talal to three years in jail for the possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition and another seven years for money laundering.

However, the KD 10,000 fine imposed on Sheikh Talal and other suspects in the case was cancelled.

The court upheld the verdict issued on three more suspects — Faisal (Bedoun), Ameer (Bangladeshi) and Tazhi (Indian) — to life imprisonment while Fadi (Lebanese), Abdullah (Iraqi) and Faisal were sentenced to seven years in jail for money laundering.

The three men were ordered to pay a fine equal to the amount involved in the money laundering case. Besides ordering the confiscation of funds and properties from the suspects, the court also ordered the deportation of Faisal, Ameer, Tazhi, Fadi and Abdullah Case files indicate the arresting officer received information about Tazhi trafficking in narcotic pills in various areas of Kuwait.

Armed with a search and arrest warrant, the officer sent an undercover agent to buy some hashish worth KD 350 from Tazhi.

After an agreement between the two parties, Tazhi arrived at the agreed location with Ameer in a Pajero, which was later found to be owned by Sheikh Talal.

The two men were arrested during the buy-bust operation. 

While searching Tazhi, the officer found the marked police money in his pocket while the undercover agent handed over a large piece of hashish he got from Tazhi.

The officer also found three rolls of cocaine in the man’s pocket in addition to two large pieces of hashish and 18 rolls of cocaine, which were discovered inside the car. The officer then found three rolls of cocaine in Ameer’s pocket.

During interrogation, the two suspects admitted to trafficking in drugs, disclosing they worked for Sheikh Talal.

According to them, Faisal — Sheikh Talal’s assistant — provided them with the drugs. They later guided the officer to Sheikh Talal’s house at a suburb in Surra.

Police raided Sheikh Talal’s house and arrested him along with Faisal.

Police found a large piece of hashish and two rolls of cocaine inside Sheikh Talal’s pocket as well as four large pieces of hashish and 89 rolls of cocaine in his bedroom. They also found a pistol loaded with five bullets, an automatic rifle under his bed and another pistol loaded with three bullets in his car.

Sheikh Talal also told police that he hid more drugs in the basement, where they found 127 large pieces of hashish, 28 bags of cocaine, two grinders with traces of cocaine, a weighing scale and a large amount of paper used for packing cocaine.

During interrogation, Sheikh Talal admitted to trading in drugs and possession of firearms which, according to him, he used to protect himself. He also admitted to smuggling narcotic pills from Lebanon with the assistance of Fadi and Abdullah.

Investigations revealed the third, fifth and sixth suspects are members of a gang which smuggles drugs into the country.

They also violated anti-money laundering regulations when they transferred huge amounts of money daily to the fourth suspect in an undisclosed GCC country. A report from the Criminal Evidences Department (CED) showed the confiscated hashish weighed 26 kilos, narcotic pills totaled 802 pieces while the cocaine weighed 26 kilos. On Dec 17, 2006, the Criminal Court sentenced Sheikh Talal to death and ordered him to pay a fine of KD 10,000. He was also sentenced to three years in jail for the possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition and seven years for money laundering. The session was presided over by Judge Ahmad Al-Ajeel.