Rabat – Moroccan authorities seized over half a ton of cocaine at the Tangier Med Port on Tuesday, May 6, in a coordinated operation that disrupted an attempted transcontinental drug smuggling effort.
The seizure, which totaled 514 kilograms of cocaine, followed a joint effort between national security services and customs officials.
The operation targeted three maritime containers that had departed from a port in South America and were bound for Belgium, transiting through Tangier Med.
One of the containers, declared as carrying coal, drew the attention of customs officers based on operational intelligence. A search revealed the cocaine shipment hidden within the coal, in a method that appeared carefully crafted to avoid detection.
The case has been handed over to the National Judicial Police Brigade, which operates under the supervision of the relevant public prosecutor’s office.
Investigators are working to determine the identities of those linked to the smuggling attempt and to map the broader network behind the operation.
The seizure showcases the port’s strategic position along global trade routes and the ongoing efforts by Moroccan institutions to monitor and intercept international drug trafficking.
It is also part and parcel of Morocco’s efforts to combat drug trafficking networks operating on national and international grounds, as well as disrupt narcotics supply chains that use the North African country as a transit point.
