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Join on Telegram Rabat – Local authorities in the city of Laayoune, southern Morocco, incinerated 12 tons of cannabis resin on July 1.
Security services in the region also incinerated 36 kilograms of kif (a type of cannabis drug), 29 hookahs, as well as counterfeit cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, and psychotropic pills.
Deputy public prosecutor at Laayoune Court of First Instance Abdeslam Abdou said security services seized the drugs in a series of operations in recent months across the Laayoune Sakia El Hamra region.
The officer said the destruction of the drugs is part of Morocco’s approach to combating drug trafficking and organized crime.
Authorities carried out a similar operation on June 20 in the city of Dakhla, where they incinerated 15 tons of cannabis resin.
Security services of Dakhla-Oued Eddahab seized the drugs during the period of January 15 to March 31.
Police also incinerated tobacco, packets of cigarettes, psychotropic pills. The total value of the incinerated illicit products is estimated at MAD 180 million ($18.569 million).
Moroccan security services, including national police and Royal Gendarmerie, have stepped up efforts to crackdown drug trafficking.
In 2019, New Frontier Data shared statistics, claiming Morocco is Europe’s biggest cannabis supplier.
The data website shared a graphic that shows 62% of cannabis seized in Africa was from Morocco in 2016.
In 2019, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction said cannabis resin is “mostly imported from Morocco, with Libya emerging as a major hub for resin trafficking.”
The report also highlighted 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 added.
