Rabat – After a video of teenagers inhaling glue at a Moroccan school circulated on social media, Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) is mobilizing to strengthen security around schools.
According to the Arabic-language daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia, the DGSN aims to target drug trafficking, indecent acts, and misdemeanors by boosting security around schools.
The same source reported on November 9 that implementing this reform includes ensuring a permanent police presence at schools in all provinces and prefectures of Morocco. DGSN is calling for police brigades and reinforcements during the hours of entry and exit.
DGSN’s announcement also encourages security services to increase their operations in schools and fight against all forms of delinquency.
The reforms come after a video of teenage boys and girls inhaling glue made its rounds on social media. The video was filmed near a school in Beni Mellal, a city in the Atlas mountains 200 kilometers north of Marrakech.
The teenagers were identified and interviewed by the police, who then arrested the glue supplier.
MP Hicham Sabri, a member of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), addressed the rising frequency of this phenomenon at Moroccan schools during the last oral question session of Parliament.
After analyzing the glue used by the teenagers in Beni Mellal, specialists determined it to be a psychotropic substance that can have devastating effects on those who inhale it.
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DGSN reported that 3,015 crimes had been committed around Moroccan schools in 2018. Police arrested 3,122 individuals, including 587 minors, around schools last year.
Additionally, police seized 6,483 kilograms of cannabis resin and 143 psychotropic tablets near schools in 2018.
According to reports sent to the Ministry of the Interior and the DGSN, heightened police presence near schools resulted in a decrease in drug trafficking, harassment, and knife crime.
The new DGSN initiative, bolstered by thousands of new recruits to the force and several new police stations, aims to preserve the safety of schoolchildren and reduce crime among Moroccan youth.
