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Rabat – Morocco’s Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxes (ADII) shared its annual data on the amount of drugs seized across Morocco.
The administration reported that Moroccan customs seized 19.2 tons of cannabis resin in 2018, 14.7 tons less than the number of cannabis resins seized in 2017 ( 33.7 tons).
The administration added that its agents carried several crackdowns in 2018, including one operation where 240 kilograms of cannabis resin had been concealed inside orange juice cartons.
Customs officials also said that they seized 541.3 kilograms of pure cocaine packed in travel bags and 3.9 million smuggled cigarettes
An increase in psychotropic drugs
The report also showed an increase in psychotropic substances seized in 2018.
Customs seized 836,808 units of psychotropic drugs, including dangerous varieties, such as ecstasy, and rivotril.
The number of psychotropic drugs seized increased from 140,000 seized in 2017 to 836,808 in 2018.
The report shows that customs seized 132,4 kilogram of hard drugs compared to 476, 7 kilograms seized in 2017.
ADII also unveiled the number of confiscated cigarettes, saying that authorities seized 36 million smuggled units, compared to 22.9 million units in 2017.
In addition to the operations carried out by Moroccan customs, Moroccan police also announced the seizure of significant quantities of cannabis, cocaine and psychotropic pills in its 2018 annual report.
More prosecutions for drug charges
In 2018, Moroccan security services seized 1.65 tons of cocaine, over 1.3 million psychotropic and ecstasy pills, 52 tons of cannabis resin, and 693 kilograms of cannabis.
Moroccan Government Spokesperson, Mustapha El Khalfi, announced that Morocco had prosecuted 107,000 people in 2017 in drug cases; an increase from 36,000 people per year during the previous decade.
In March, a report from the International Narcotics Board (INCB) finds that, in 2017, the largest amount of cannabis was in Morocco. The report shows that authorities seized 117 tons of cannabis resin and 283 tons of cannabis in 2017.
“Cannabis resin is mainly trafficked from Morocco, but it is increasingly produced in Europe it self,” the report found.
