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Rabat – Customs officers in Ceuta’s crosspoint Bab Sebta seized on Thursday, October 10, 218 last-gen smartphones.
A Moroccan living in Ceuta attempted to smuggle the smartphones to Morocco without declaring them to the Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxes (ADII).
Customs services estimated the value of the seized phones at MAD 1,046,250.
The would-be smuggler tried hiding the phones in a special compartment under his car’s seats.
In another operation on the same day, customs services at Bab Sebta, in collaboration with officers from the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), arrested a Moroccan living in Spain who attempted to smuggle 34 kg of cannabis resin into Morocco.
The suspect had hidden the drugs in the frame of the car he was driving.
Moroccan authorities have doubled their efforts in recent years to stop illegal drug and merchandise trafficking attempts.
In 2018, the Moroccan government announced that the country has been implementing “a multi-dimensional national strategy to fight illegal drugs and is determined to place civil society at the forefront of this national strategy.”
Mustapha El Khalfi, former Spokesperson of the Moroccan government, said Moroccan authorities prosecuted 107,000 people in drug-related cases in 2017.
El Khalfi added that Morocco’s geographical location as the gateway to Europe makes it a target for criminal networks.
