A report published in March from INCB shows that the largest quantities of cannabis were seized in Morocco in 2017.
Rabat – International analytics company New Frontier Data released new data on drug trafficking on September 10. The analytics company claims that Morocco is Europe’s biggest cannabis supplier.
A graphic shows that 62% of cannabis seized in Africa was from Morocco in 2016. Security services, according to the visual, seized a total of 937,414 kilograms of hashish between 2012 and 2016.
New Frontier Data also say that Morocco is the world’s largest – albeit illicit – “supplier of cannabis to Europe.”
The data quoted a recent report, providing statistics on how Europe imports cannabis from Morocco.
Read Also: Morocco Foils Trafficking of 700 Kg of Cannabis Resin in Northern Morocco
A report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in 2019 says that can Cannabis resin is “mostly imported from Morocco, with Libya emerging as a major hub for resin trafficking.”
The report pointed out that Morocco’s proximity to Europe makes it a center for drug trafficking.
“Because of its proximity to Morocco, Spain is particularly important when it comes to quantities of cannabis resin seized, accounting for almost three-quarters (72 %) of the total quantity seized in the European Union in 2017,” the report said.
Cited by the New Data Frontier, a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), confirmed that Morocco remains the world’s largest producer of cannabis. The report shows that Morocco produces over three times more than the next highest contender, the European country Moldova.
Cannabis production in the country continues to grow, with the production of cannabis herbs increasing from 35,653 tons in 2016 to 35,703 tons in 2017, the report added.
Crackdown
New Frontier Data said that Morocco’s broad production of cannabis is reflected in seizures and the crackdown against drug trafficking.
“Morocco’s vast production is reflected in the size of related cannabis seizures, characteristically measured by the ton. In one July 2019 haul, Moroccan police seized a record 27.3 tons,” the news report said.
In addition to July’s seizure, Morocco’s security services aborted tens of drug trafficking operations throughout the year.
Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation seized seven tons of Cannabis in Casablanca in April.
In March, police seized 1.675 tons of Cannabis resin in Fez. Police also seized 13 tons and 750 kilograms of hashish at Tangier Med Port.
Morocco continues to exert heavy pressure on the illicit drug trade. In 2018, the North African country announced the implementation of “a multi-dimensional national strategy to fight illegal drugs and is determined to place civil society in the forefront of this national strategy.”
Moroccan Government Spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi said last year that Morocco prosecuted 107,000 people in 2017 in drug cases, an increase from 36,000 people per year during the previous decade.
A report from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) earlier this year shows that hashish is the most common drug that police seized in Africa.
The 2018 report shows that Morocco is where the largest quantities of cannabis were seized in 2017: 117 tons of cannabis resin and 283 tons of cannabis.
