Judicial police, in cooperation with Morocco’s General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), arrested last week four people in Sale, Rabat’s twin city, suspected of robbery and serious violent crimes including kidnapping.
Morocco’s security services of the Sale province became aware of a potential crime after receiving a report on December 1 regarding a victim of violence, kidnapping, and forcible confinement in an enclosed forest in Sala El Jadida. The suspects released the victim on the outskirts of the city after stealing her car, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) said.
After the judicial police’s investigation, Morocco’s security services easily identified the kidnapping suspects. They stopped the individuals, aged between 22 and 46, red-handed driving the reported victim’s car between Sale and Kenitra in the area of Sidi Taibi. Morocco’s police arrested the fourth suspect in Tangier.
Security services placed the four suspects in police custody for further investigation under the supervision of the public prosecutor to determine the motives and specificities of these criminal acts.
According to DGSN’s 2019 annual report on crime statistics, violent crimes represented 8% of crimes in Morocco last year. Such crimes, including serious robberies and sexual assaults, among others, decreased by 8.6% compared to 2018.
Armed robberies decreased by 21%, fatal assault dropped by 11.2%, indecent assault was 10.2% less prevalent than in 2018, theft fell by 3.4%, and vehicle theft decreased by 7.8%, according to the same source.
