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Rabat – A Moroccan court on Tuesday sentenced a man to five years in prison and a fine of $107,300 for human trafficking.
According to ABC News, the case centered on Nabil Moafik, who was accused of luring young Moroccans with false promises of lucrative jobs in Thailand.
Instead, victims were trafficked to Myanmar, over 9,000 miles away, where they were forced to work in so-called “scam compounds,” running online fraud schemes.
Moafik denied the accusations, describing human trafficking as a “crime against humanity” he would never commit. He told the court, “I was just a job mediator. I was getting between $21 and $107 for each person I recruited. I did not know that all of this would happen.”
Victims testified that they endured harsh conditions, including torture and extortion. Some said they were released only after paying ransoms in cryptocurrency.
Prosecutors alleged that Moafik managed a Facebook group designed to help Moroccan migrants in Turkiye and used it to post deceptive job offers.
One victim, Youssef Amzouz, reportedly applied to a call-center position in Thailand, only to find himself trafficked and forced into cyber fraud operations in Myanmar.
Court documents indicate that Moafik introduced Amzouz to another Moroccan who later demanded that he either pay a ransom or recruit 100 more people to earn his release.
The UN estimates that around 120,000 people are currently trapped in scam compounds across Southeast Asia. The International Organization for Migration has noted that intermediaries in such cases are sometimes unaware of their role in trafficking, complicating prosecution efforts.
The state prosecutor described Moafik as “an essential element in the crime of human trafficking,” arguing that his actions directly contributed to the exploitation of Moroccan nationals abroad.
