Rabat — Security services at the Tanger Med port aborted an attempt to smuggle 4.3 tons of cannabis abroad on an international freight transport truck on Sunday.
A joint border inspection operation between police and customs patrol enabled security services to seize the drugs that had been carefully hidden within a shipment of fruit carried by a trailer attached to a Moroccan-registered truck.
The shipment was part of an international drug trafficking attempt bound for Europe.
Police put the prime suspect — the truck driver, a 51-year-old Moroccan national — in custody pending a judicial investigation to determine the circumstances of the case.
The investigation also seeks to identify any national or international links as well as potential accomplices involved in the smuggling attempt.
The operation is part of Morocco’s larger efforts to combat drug trafficking. Security services, including police, customs, and other task forces, regularly partner to carry out similar security operations across the country.
In 2024, Moroccan security services handled 92,346 drug trafficking-related cases and arrested 119,692 individuals, including 287 foreigners.
During these security operations, Moroccan police seized 123 tons and 971 kilograms of cannabis resin, 1.948 tons of cocaine, and 16.53 kilograms of heroin, in addition to over 1 million psychotropic substances.
