KUWAIT: Shuwaikh customs officers search for drugs inside ketchup bottles that arrived in a shipment from Syria yesterday.

KUWAIT: Shuwaikh customs officers foiled an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of illicit tablets kept inside a big ketchup shipment that arrived at Shuwaikh Port, coming from Syria yesterday. The number of tablets could be nearly one million, according to early estimations. Investigations are ongoing to locate and arrested the suspects who imported the shipment.

Injuries

Five female citizens were injured in a house fire reported in Jaber Al-Ahmad on Monday night. Doha and Tahrir fire stations responded to a call about the fire and put it out. The women sustained injuries after they jumped from the first floor in an attempt to escape.

Dead maid's sponsor remanded in custody

The public prosecution ordered the detention of a citizen accused of killing her Ethiopian helper for 21 days, Al-Rai reported yesterday. A source said the suspect was charged with premeditated murder and human trafficking. The source said the suspect denied any intention to kill the victim, saying she beat her by hand from Oct 3 until Oct 26 because she was not doing her job. The suspect denied detectives' conclusions that she beat the victim with a wooden stick, but confessed that she did not give her medical care so as not to incriminate herself.

Entry ban

In moves to control the marketplace and avoid problems that were checked by criminal security lately, the residency affairs department of the nationality and passports sector headed by Maj Gen Sheikh Faisal Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah banned the entry of those with Georgian passports without the approval of assistant interior ministry undersecretary. He also banned domestic helpers from Guinea-Bissau and laborers from Vietnam, Al-Anba reported yesterday. A security source said the measures were taken following letters by Criminal Security Undersecretary Maj Gen Khalid Al-Dayeen. Sources said several individuals from the said nationalities are linked to new types of crimes, prompting the decision.

Harasser denies 'ill intentions'

After the prosecution ordered the detention of a policeman accused of sexually assaulting a South Korean woman at the T4 terminal, the suspect said he did not mean to hurt the woman. He said as his job is to check visas, he is used to touching people's hands to take their fingerprints, and did not have any other intentions. About claims that he touched parts of her body, he said he had forgotten his magnetic ID card that allows him in, and as she works in the inspection department with a similar ID and knows about his job, he asked her help to allow him in.

Detectives injured chasing dealer

A case of a drug dealer in Salwa ended with injuring three detectives from the drugs control department. Detectives learned the wanted dealer was in Salwa and located him. They found him in his car, so they asked him to pull over, but he ignored their instructions and a chase ensued. He was cornered inside the parking lot of Salwa Co-op Society, but he rammed the detectives' patrol car and was eventually arrested.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun and Agencies