Algerian Court Sentences Drug Ring Members; Kingpin Remains at Large in Morocco

The case dates back to August 2017, when the security services had arrested, on the highway, at the exit of the city of Lakhdaria, a refrigerated vehicle, transporting a quantity of five quintals of processed kif.

The driver of the vehicle, from Algiers, was arrested by the security services who, after a thorough investigation, managed to dismantle the entire network, the main perpetrator of which is still on the run in Morocco. According to judicial sources, "the driver tried to transport this quantity of kif to the Tunisian border with the support of one of his relatives. The two were sentenced to 15 years in prison." Three other people, from the wilaya of Sétif, aged between 19 and 60, were arrested, and a firearm was seized during the dismantling operation, specifies liberte-algerie.com.

The 19-year-old young man who was carrying the firearm was sentenced to three years in prison, while the other two were acquitted. The mastermind of the network, on the other hand, was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia, the same source said.