Morocco: Drug smuggling attempt foiled at Safi Port

Moroccan security forces thwarted an attempt to smuggle 8.1 tons of chira at the port of Safi in a coordinated operation on Saturday evening, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) said.

During this joint operation, carried out by the provincial security services of Safi and the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ), law enforcement agents found the banned substance concealed in 199 bales, the DGSN said in a statement released Sunday. The narcotics were intended for international shipment via sea, hidden aboard a Morocco-registered freight truck, which was intercepted upon its arrival at Safi-Atlantique port.

Authorities arrested 21 individuals, aged between 24 and 48, for their suspected involvement in the drug trafficking network. In addition to the drug haul, police seized 1,160 liters of gasoline stored in barrels and confiscated a second vehicle at the scene.

The operation followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance, after law enforcement uncovered evidence of a criminal network planning a large-scale drug trafficking operation. The DGSN confirmed that investigators had been tracking the movements of the drug shipment prior to its seizure and the arrests.

The arrested individuals are now under judicial investigation, as authorities seek to unravel the full extent of the network’s operations, including its local and international connections.

This bust is part of the broader efforts by Moroccan security forces to combat international drug trafficking, the DGSN emphasized.