On Saturday, police in Tangier Med Port thwarted a drug trafficking operation, seizing 13 tonnes and 750 kilograms of hashish, according to a statement from the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN).
The statement added that police seized the drugs on board of an international transport truck registered in Morocco.
The police department in Tangier opened an investigation under the supervision of the prosecutor’s office to arrest the driver as well as possible accomplices involved in drug trafficking.
Morocco’s security services are cracking down drug trafficking attempts in several cities across the country. On December 19, 2018, Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Intelligence (BCIJ) seized a boat loaded with cocaine in El Jadida, near Casablanca.
On the same month, the BCIJ found a farm in Boujdour in the Laayoune Sakia El Hamra region used by a drug network for cocaine trafficking and storage.
Authorities revealed that Morocco’s security services seized 1.65 tons of cocaine, over 1.3 million psychotropic and ecstasy pills (up 43 percent over 2017), 52 tons of cannabis resin, and 693 kilograms of cannabis in 2018.
Morocco’s proximity to Europe has attracted several international drug trafficking networks, including those from South America.
Recently, El Pais reported that Latin cartels have been using Africa, and Morocco in particular, as a transit point for trafficking drugs to Europe.
Back in December 2018,the BCIJ arrested members of an international drug trafficking ring specialized in smuggling cocaine between Morocco, the US, Latin America, and Europe.
Authorities also seized a tonne of cocaine during the operation.
