Morocco busts smuggling attempt of over 7.2 tons of cannabis

The Casablanca Police foiled on Monday an attempt to smuggle 7,228 tons of cannabis from Morocco to overseas and arrested three people involved in this drug operation.

The drug haul was found in a truck bearing false registration plates. Tailed by the police, the lorry, which was carrying 220 cannabis bales, crossed several cities and was heading to the port of Jorf Lasfar, near the Atlantic coastal city of El Jadida.

Sensing that their drug smuggling operation was compromised, the driver and his assistants tried, at first, to get rid of the illegal substance by tossing some cannabis bundles off the truck on the side of the highway before attacking police agents with stones.

But upon their arrival at the Tit-Mellil toll gate, on Casablanca’s outskirts, the smugglers took off, leaving behind the truck loaded with narcotics, says a press release issued by the National Police.

The combing operation carried out by the security services led to the arrest of two people in a utility vehicle carrying a cannabis bale, thrown by members of the criminal network, while the third person was arrested in a car carrying large quantities of stones after attempting to escape through the motorway’s emergency lane.