Marrakech Cafe Owner Faces Hefty Customs Fine for Undeclared Foreign Currency

Relying on Article 258 of the Customs Code, the Administration claims to be entitled to file an exceptional appeal against the judgments rendered at first instance, even if it had not participated in the hearing.

To justify the amounts requested, customs referred to the statements of the defendants during the judicial proceedings. The owner of the "La Crème" cafe had acknowledged having brought in 60 million dirhams in foreign currency from the Netherlands, without making a customs declaration.

To recall, on November 2, 2017, a shooting took place at the "La Crème" cafe in Marrakech. A young intern doctor was killed by mistake, while the perpetrators were targeting the cafe owner. Of the 19 people prosecuted in the case, 2 were sentenced to death.