Morocco has reiterated determination to continue to crackdown on drug trafficking, including “L’Poufa”– one of the dangerous substances that have become relevant among young people.
Morocco’s Minister of Interior Abdelouafi Laftit has outlined the country’s fight against drug use and trafficking, including “L’Poufa.”
In a written response to the Party of Progress and Socialism’s team at the House of Representatives, the second chamber of the Moroccan parliament, Laftit stressed that the security response to drug trafficking and associated crimes falls within a “comprehensive approach, which includes reducing the supply by enhancing monitoring at the border regions.”
The approach also includes strengthening road surveillance to tackle drug trafficking, in addition to awareness-raising campaigns to educate about the dangers of drug use and addiction.
Providing new data, Laftit said that approximately 395 cases related to l’Poufa drug have been recorded in Morocco between January 2020 and August 2023. He said that security services managed to seize four kilograms of the same drug within this period.
Sharing general statistics on drug trafficking crackdown, Laftit said that security services counted 156,552 cases related to drug possession, consumption, and trafficking from January 2022 to July 31, 2023.
During the same period, police arrested 204,761 for their alleged involvement in similar cases.
During the same period, 5,841 cases related to drug possession, consumption, and trafficking were recorded at the level of Moroccan rural areas. This led to the arrest of 7,037 suspects.
Read also: Alarming Rise of ‘L’Poufa’: Crack Epidemic Sweeping Through Moroccan Youth
L’Poufa has been referred to as one of the highly addictive and dangerous forms of crack cocaine that has spread among the country’s youth.
Often referred to as the “drug of the poor” due to its affordability, the drug is known as a homemade substance made from leftover cocaine and ammonia, which results in a solid, even crystalline form.
Users usually consume the drug by smoking the crystalline rocks in discreet makeshift pipes, often made from pen tubes.
Many experts have called on the government and security services to take swift action to combat the rise in the sale and use of Poufa in the country.
Experts link the drug to intense, immediate effects on the brain as it produces a strong feeling of euphoria and increases dopamine levels.
The short-lived feeling makes users want to take the drug again, a situation that eventually leads to addiction.
