Briton sentenced to life in Kuwait for 49 kg Iraq hashish
A Kuwait court sentenced British civilian contractor Gareth Rutherford to life in prison on 12 April 2009 for smuggling 49 kg of hashish from Iraq hidden in a car tyre. He had faced a possible death sentence and denied the charge; his lawyer appealed, and the Foreign Office said a life term meant 25 years.
A Kuwait court sentenced Gareth Rutherford, a 50-year-old British civilian defence contractor, to life in prison for smuggling cannabis from Iraq, where he worked for a Kuwaiti shipping company holding a British military contract in Basra.[1][2]He denied trying to smuggle 49 kg of hashish into Kuwait concealed in the tyre of a car, and had faced a possible death sentence.[1][2]
Rutherford was arrested the previous September crossing into Kuwait with the drugs, alcohol and cash.[1]His lawyer, Hassan al-Hotiri, said he would appeal the ruling.[1][2]A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the life sentence meant 25 years and that the appeal would be heard within a month.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Kuwait's Criminal Court sentenced a Bidun man to life imprisonment for trafficking hashish alongside psychotropic substances after officers caught him in a drug-control ambush. Prosecutors said he held cannabis resin for use and sale, plus amphetamine and pregabalin, and had consumed THC; the court upheld the arrest and search.
Kuwait’s Criminal Court sentenced two Lebanese men to death for trafficking and using cannabis alongside psychoactive substances. Officers had seized 2 kg of marijuana and 400 g of hashish, plus non-cannabis drugs and packing equipment.
Arrested 2Charged 2Cannabis 2.4 kgPrison death sentence
The Criminal Court sentenced a well-known lawyer and a Kuwaiti fugitive in London to life for trafficking hashish and psychotropic substances sent by air cargo. A young woman and another Kuwaiti received seven years each. The case showed that air cargo from Europe, not only Gulf sea routes, supplies the market.
Kuwait’s Criminal Court sentenced a Kuwaiti woman to fifteen years and a KD10,000 fine for cultivating, trafficking and using hashish after drug-control officers raided her home; a co-defendant was not sentenced for use alone.