Massive Drug Money Laundering Ring Uncovered in France, Linked to Moroccan Cannabis Cartels

Interpol and Europol, in coordination with the Moroccan security services, have succeeded in dismantling this vast network of money laundering from drug trafficking.

However, the mastermind, one El Haj, who would be in Morocco, is still on the run. The Moroccan authorities have seized his bank accounts, which are empty and show no trace of money laundering.

The starting point of this investigation was the discovery of a vehicle equipped with a hiding place containing more than 298,000 euros, parked on a highway rest area in France.

In the course of their investigations, the gendarmes dismantled this money laundering network that transfers large sums to Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.

Subsequently, a search by the French police in the grocery store of a Moroccan national also made it possible to seize nearly 1 million euros, hidden in a sofa.

This dirty money network operated on the "hawala" model, a financial system dating back to the Middle Ages, based on mutual trust between "sarafs", money changers, for cross-border settlements without physical movement of money, details AFP.