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Rabat – Moroccan police seized on April 12 a vehicle loaded with 2.563 tons of cannabis resin near Chefchaouen, in northern Morocco.
Police arrested five people aged between 23 and 31, in both Tangier and Chefchaouen, for their involvement in international trafficking and robbery.
A joint operation by judicial police in the two cities led to the suspects’ arrest, a statement from the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) has said.
The statement noted that Tangier’s judicial police investigated a theft at an apartment and the disappearance of a hunting rifle, and several ammunition cartridges.
The investigation identified two alleged perpetrators, both with multiple criminal records. Police also managed to arrest a third suspect who allegedly bought and sold some of the stolen items, including the shotgun.
Further investigations enabled the police to arrest two more people in Bab Berred, near Chefchaouen.
As a result of the search, police also managed to seize a vehicle loaded with 2 tons and 563 kilograms of cannabis resin, as well as other four light vehicles and false license plates.
Police put the suspects in custody and entered into further investigation to arrest all possible accomplices involved in the affair.
The police operation is part of Morocco’s security approach to combat international drug trafficking.
Cannabis resin is one of the most common drugs in Morocco, and the country’s security services have been intensifying joint operations to crack down on drug trafficking.
The 2019 International Narcotics Control Board (INCP) report shows Morocco and Nigeria as the countries in Africa with the largest seizures of cannabis and cannabis resin.
The report said Morocco reported the seizure of nearly 72 tons of cannabis resin, as well as “252 tons of majoun, a consumable product consisting mostly of cannabis but that can also include other drugs, along with poppy seeds and other foodstuffs,” in 2018.
Moroccan police seized 12 tons of cannabis and 800 kilograms of cannabis resin in June 2019 alone.
The report also recalled another 2019 operation where security services seized 600 kilograms of cannabis.
