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Rabat – Moroccan police have arrested six people for their alleged involvement in international drug trafficking in Casablanca.
A statement from the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) announced on July 17 that the suspects are aged between 19 and 46. Two of the suspects have criminal records.
Police arrested two of the suspects in the Sidi Bennour area while they were in possession of cannabis tablets prepared as samples for presentation to potential customers, the statement said.
Security operations in the Daroua area in the city enabled police to arrest another suspect in possession of eight packages of 260 kilograms of cannabis for international smuggling.
Another security operation resulted in the arrest of the remaining suspects in a car in the Oulad Ziane area in the center of Casablanca.
After searching the suspects’ houses, police seized bank cards and other documents, as well as money in cash suspected of being links to drug trafficking activities.
DGSN said that the suspects are in custody for further investigation to arrest potential accomplices.
The operation is part of Morocco’s efforts to combat drug trafficking across the country and beyond.
DGSN said that the operation took place in collaboration with the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST).
Separate bodies of Morocco’s security architecture – the DGSN, DGST, Royal Gendarmerie, Royal Navy, among others – have increasingly teamed up in recent months and years to combat drug trafficking and related criminal activities.
A report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated that the Moroccan authorities seized approximately 300 tonnes of cannabis plants in 2019.
The ranking puts Morocco in sixth place worldwide in terms of the number of psychoactive substances seized.
In 2020, DGSN said police seized 217 tonnes and 323 kilograms of cannabis, indicating an increase of 37 tonnes compared to 2019.
Also in 2020, Moroccan police arrested 97, 564 people for their involvement in drug trafficking cases.
