Rabat – A Beziers court in southern France has sentenced two Moroccans to 5 years imprisonment for smuggling 325 kilograms of cannabis resin (hashish).
The French channel France 3 reported that the court issued on May 17 a 10-year entry ban in the name of the two suspects as well as a customs fine of €650,160 (MAD 6,888,550).
The court also ordered the confiscation of the illicit product and the judicial confiscation of the truck used to smuggle the illegal substances.
Customs officers from the Narbonne brigade arrested the two Moroccan nationals during a regular road check on the A9 motorway. The detainees were driving a refrigerated truck registered in Morocco and Spain.
Once stopped by the customs officers, the suspects declared their travel trajectory from Algeciras in Spain to Chateau-renard, near Orleans.
French authorities found nine suitcases and two bags inside the track. They contained more than 300 kilograms of cannabis resin, commonly known as hashish.
Cases of illegal transportation and distribution of cannabis resin from Morocco to Europe are common. Yet the Moroccan authorities and their European counterparts have through bilateral, regional, and international collaboration attempted in vain to stop billions of euros worth of the popular recreational drug from flooding into Europe.
Customs officers and official authorities only stop a miniscule fraction of this international business that provides 70% of Europe’s hashish needs..
In 2021, Moroccan police handled 82,950 cases related to the possession and trafficking of drugs and 191 tonnes and 158 kilograms of cannabis. This constitutes a tiny fraction of Morocco’s illicit cannabis industry, which is estimated to be worth $15 billion as the country is the primary supplier to both legal and illegal cannabis markets in Europe.
Last month, French authorities dismantled a drug trafficking network operating in Morocco, Spain, and the Netherlands as well. The French authorities worked in coordination of the involved countries.
The suspects were arrested red-handed in Maselle and Marseille. French police seized 1,235 kilograms of cannabis resins and €237,000 cash.
Spain performed similar human and drug trafficking arrests over the past years with the help of Moroccan intel.
