Morocco Jails 29 Individuals, Including Politicians and Businessmen, in Major Drug Trafficking Trial

 

Source: Africa Publicity

A court in Casablanca, Morocco has jailed 29 individuals for drug trafficking. Among the individuals jailed for between 10 to 12 years are are businessmen, politicians and sports personalities.

The sentencing late on Thursday brings an end to a major international drug trafficking and corruption trial.

It followed a two-year trial. Among those convicted were Abdennebi Bioui, a construction tycoon and former regional council president, Said Naciri, former president of Casablanca’s Wydad AC football and sports club and former MP Belkacem Mir – all senior members of the governing PAM party.

Local media reports say Naciri got 10 years jail term, while Bioui received 12 and Mir 10.

Aside the three main defendants, reports say sentences for the remaining ranged from two to nine years, depending on their individual role in the network.

The wide-ranging case was triggered by courtroom testimony from El Hadj Ahmed Ben Brahim, a notorious Malian drug trafficker nicknamed the “Pablo Escobar of the Sahara”.

Currently serving a 10-year sentence in Morocco, reports say Ben Brahim told judicial investigators that his former Moroccan political and business associates had betrayed him, seizing millions of dollars worth of his luxury real estate and vehicles following his arrest in 2019.

According to reports, the trial involved over 20 defendants, 18 witnesses and two civil parties which centred on a sophisticated network that transported tonnes of Moroccan cannabis resin across North Africa to Europe, alongside Latin American cocaine shipments.