Kuwait police arrest 3,461 wanted people in 10 months

Kuwait’s emergency police arrested 3,461 wanted people and residency law violators in just 10 months.

That number comes from fresh statistics released by the General Directorate of Emergency Police, covering 1 January to 31 October 2026. It paints a picture of a country running thousands of checkpoints a year, with Jahra, Hawalli and Mubarak Al-Kabeer coming up again and again in the numbers. If you’ve noticed more patrols lately, this is probably why – it fits the pattern we saw in the recent Jahra security sweep.

What exactly did the police do?

The emergency police ran 11,133 checkpoints across all six governorates, plus on major roads and roads leading out of Kuwait, between January and the end of October. That’s roughly 37 checkpoints a day on average, every day of the week.

Through these checkpoints and patrols, officers handled 51,142 security reports and seized 466 wanted vehicles. On drugs and other crimes, they logged 242 drug-related cases, 109 alcohol cases and 32 theft cases. The directorate said the work also involved its Road Security and Convoy Protection Departments, not just regular patrol units.

Who got caught where?

Jahra had the roughest numbers for wanted people and residency violators. It recorded the highest count of both: 541 wanted individuals arrested and 710 residency law violators caught, more than any other governorate.

Drug cases told a different story. Al-Ahmadi led with 77 cases, followed by Hawalli with 56. These are the areas where the directorate’s enforcement seems to be focused hardest right now, and it echoes earlier reporting on wider sweeps, including the 67 wanted people caught at Kuwait’s ports in October.

And on the roads?

Traffic is where the biggest numbers sit. Emergency patrols issued 69,104 traffic violations over the 10 months, impounded 478 vehicles, and referred 75 people straight to traffic police stations. They also dealt with 5,566 traffic accidents and 306 cases of people misusing parking spaces set aside for people with disabilities.

Mubarak Al-Kabeer had the most traffic violations of any governorate, at 16,484. Hawalli came close behind with 16,155, and the Capital Governorate recorded 14,524. Hawalli also had the highest number of traffic accidents of all six governorates, at 1,132. If you drive through Hawalli regularly, these numbers probably won’t surprise you.

This isn’t the only traffic enforcement push this year. Authorities have also widened checks on delivery riders in October, part of a broader effort to cut accidents linked to fast-moving bikes and vans. The riders aren’t the only target, though – the governorate figures above show ordinary drivers make up most of the violations.

Who is running this?

The General Directorate of Emergency Police is headed by Brigadier General Hamlan Hadiri Al-Hamlan, with Colonel Sheikh Sabah Ali Al-Yousef Al-Sabah as his assistant. The traffic side of the operation falls under Brigadier General Ahmed Fahd Al-Azmi, who heads the Traffic and Operations Affairs Sector.

The directorate said the heavier deployment of patrols, checkpoints and traffic monitoring across the governorates has helped catch wanted people and violators, while also making roads safer. It’s part of a wider push this year that has included plans for body cameras for Kuwait’s police, meant to add more accountability to exactly this kind of frontline enforcement work.

What this means if you live here

If you’re an expat with an expired visa or a residency issue, Jahra’s numbers are a clear signal: checkpoints there are catching more violators than anywhere else in the country. It’s worth sorting out paperwork before you’re stopped, rather than after.

Drivers in Mubarak Al-Kabeer and Hawalli should expect more patrols and more fines, not fewer. With over 5,500 accidents logged in 10 months, speeding and careless driving clearly remain a real risk on these roads. And if you park in a space reserved for people with disabilities without a valid reason, know that 306 people were caught doing exactly that this year alone.

You can find more coverage like this on our Local news hub, where we track Kuwait’s ongoing security campaigns.

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