KUWAIT CITY, Dec 13, (Agencies): Kuwait customs have foiled an attempt to smuggle hundreds of tonnes of heavily-subsidised diesel to an Asian country, the customs department said in a statement on Tuesday.
An Asian man who offered to bribe a customs officer at Kuwait’s main commercial port of Shuwaikh to facilitate shipping the smuggled fuel, was arrested by police, the statement said.

It estimated the busted quantities at around 350 tonnes but did not name the destination country, other than to identify it as being in Asia.

Local media and MPs in the dissolved parliament have repeatedly claimed that large quantities of Kuwaiti fuel are being regularly smuggled by sea to neighbouring Iran and Iraq.

In June, the media reported that authorities busted a ring linked to a regional intelligence service that has smuggled large quantities of fuel to a neighbouring country from a small port usually used by Iranians.
Fuel in Kuwait is sold at a heavily-subsidised price that has not changed for about 12 years.

Meanwhile, in another version of the story Arabic daily Al-Seyassah said that customs officials at Shuwaikh Port foiled an attempt to smuggle 350 tons of subsidized diesel that was meant to be shipped to Pakistan.
A Bangladeshi expatriate reportedly offered to pay KD 6,000 per transaction to the customs officer in-charge at the port, but the latter refused and instead reported the matter to higher-ups. The Bangladeshi, who works for a local diesel exporting company, wanted the officer to give clearance to 20 containers.

Steps are being taken to arrest all the others involved in the racket.