Netherlands Arrests Drug Trafficker Wanted By Rabat

Dutch drug trafficker, Said Chaou, has been arrested in the Netherlands after Rabat requested his extradition accusing him of funding and igniting unrest in the northern Rif region.

Minister of foreign affairs Nasser Bourita Thursday informed the cabinet at its weekly meeting that the wanted trafficker was arrested in the Netherlands and would be extradited to Morocco to be tried for the crimes he had committed.

Morocco recalled for consultation its ambassador to the Hague few days ago after Dutch authorities failed to respond to the arrest warrants issued by Moroccan authorities in 2010 and 2015 against this Moroccan native.

Following recent contacts between officials from the two countries that unlocked judicial and cooperation mechanisms, Dutch authorities finally accepted Morocco’s request to proceed to Chaou’s arrest and to his handing over to Rabat.

A source from the Moroccan Foreign Ministry told le360 portal that Chaou is sued for serious crimes in the Netherlands, his country of residence, where he awaits a verdict due by the end of 2017 on charges of forming a criminal gang as well as drug and arms trafficking.

Chaou is accused in Morocco of constituting a criminal band, homicide, corruption and international drug trafficking.

Chaou backs unrest in the Rif region and has recently published online a video instigating protests. Moroccan authorities accuse him of seeking to recreate chaos in the Rif to resume his lucrative cannabis trafficking activities.

Chaou owned a cannabis café in the Netherland, which was closed because it served overdoses to its clients. He was reportedly arrested in 2015 in the southern Dutch town of Roosendaal as part of a crackdown on a drug network, the Dutch broadcaster NOS said.