Massive Illegal Alcohol Smuggling Ring Busted in Fez, Morocco

According to a press release, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) specified that this operation took place in a warehouse located in the "Ain Chqef" industrial zone in Fez and some 74,500 bottles of alcohol were seized.

At the scene, several offenses were found by the judicial police. These include false declarations relating to the volumes of the seized bottles, the alcohol content in these drinks and the declaration of non-alcoholic beverages, in order to avoid the tax duties imposed on these beverages, depending on their volume and brand. Consequently, these bottles were submitted to the administration of customs and indirect taxes of Fez which, in coordination with the National Office of Sanitary Safety of Food Products (ONSSA), is carrying out the necessary expertise in order to elucidate all the offenses committed and ensure the compliance of these beverages with the required health standards, the same source points out.

As for the two managers arrested, aged 51 and 41, they are in custody, while the judicial investigation continues under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor’s office, in order to elucidate the ins and outs of this case and determine all the crimes and offenses committed, concludes the same press release.

It should be noted that this seizure operation adds to several others carried out by the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ) on September 5 in several businesses and cities of the kingdom and which made it possible to seize about one million bottles of foreign alcohol.