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Fez — As the Algerian regime’s rhetoric continues to target Morocco — aimed at undermining its sovereignty over its Western Sahara — new statements have revealed that the true intention of its rhetoric is to conceal its military’s involvement in drug operations.
A former Algerian diplomat has made explosive statements about his country’s military leadership, accusing Army Chief Said Chengriha of running a massive drug trafficking operation while using anti-Morocco rhetoric as a camouflage.
Mohamed Larbi Zitout, an exiled former Algerian diplomat living in London, made the statements during a YouTube livestream on September 23, directly blaming Chengriha for escalating tensions between Morocco and Algeria since 2019.
Algeria’s enemy label shift
Zitout drew parallels between the tensions between the two countries and a significant change in Algeria’s diplomatic language. In 2016, when Chengriha served in a lower military position, he broke with 40 years of tradition by calling Morocco Algeria’s “classic enemy” for the first time.
“Since Houari Boumediene’s era, Morocco was never officially labeled an enemy,” Zitout explained, adding that “Algeria always used the term ‘historic enemy’ for France,” given the colonial background.
According to the former diplomat, this shift served a strategic purpose: that of creating a nationalist distraction while covering up criminal activities within the Algerian military hierarchy.
Algeria’s drug trafficking empire
Zitout accused Chengriha of operating drug trafficking networks since 2004 — when he commanded the Bechar military zone — involving importing raw cannabis and processing it into hashish in secret laboratories.
“The current chief of staff has been involved in large-scale drug trafficking since 2004, and there are testimonies and evidence,” Zitout stated.
The former diplomat revealed that Ahmed Gaid Salah, Chengriha’s predecessor, had discovered the operation and imprisoned 33 officers connected to the trafficking network. All belonged to the 3rd Military Region of Bechar under Chengriha’s command.
“Ahmed Gaid Salah was about to imprison him [Chengriha] before his death,” Zitout noted, referring to Gaid Salah’s sudden cardiac death in 2019, just weeks after the discovery.
According to the ex-diplomat, Chengriha has modernized the operation since becoming army chief, noting that the Algerian military is currently involved in the production of synthetic drugs similar to Syrian captagon in secret laboratories.
“The Algerian army, under Chengriha’s authority, continues manufacturing hard drugs in secret laboratories — synthetic psychotropic pills that flood Algeria and Africa,” he said.
The operation extends beyond Algeria’s borders and the military exports these drugs to Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, and other African countries, generating massive profits for the Algerian military leadership.
Morocco as a cover story
The Algerian exiled diplomat argues that Algeria’s aggressive stance toward Morocco serves as a deliberate distraction from the country’s military corruption.
He indicated that “the hatred against Morocco in Algiers’ official discourse provides cover for the Algerian army’s trafficking.”
He argues that normalizing relations with Morocco would expose Chengriha’s activities through increased diplomatic exchanges and media scrutiny, explaining that “a return of freedom of expression in Algeria’s media would inevitably reveal the trafficking scandal and Chengriha’s major role.”
Systematic corruption
Zitout painted a picture of systematic corruption where military leaders profit from drug trafficking while ordinary Algerians struggle with basic necessities.
“While Algerians queue to buy oil or milk, their generals traffic amphetamines wholesale,” he said.
The former diplomat predicted that these revelations would eventually come to light: “One day, when the Algerian people free themselves, all this will be revealed.”
International implications
If true, these allegations would represent a significant shift in understanding North African geopolitics, revealing the true motives behind Algeria’s fierce campaign against Morocco.
Rather than genuine regional rivalry, the Algeria-Morocco tension, the ex-diplomat argues, is instrumentalized as a mask for criminal enterprise within Algeria’s military establishment.
The statements also suggest that Algeria’s military leadership deliberately maintains regional instability to protect personal interests, undermining both domestic development and regional cooperation.
