Moroccan Customs Seize 6.3 Tons of Cannabis During Pandemic Lockdown

In a press release from the Directorate of Customs and Indirect Taxes (ADII), it was emphasized that it was on Friday, May 15 that the operations carried out resulted in the "exceptional seizure in the south of the kingdom of at least 6.3 tons of cannabis, intercepted at the Guergarate border post".

It was by scanning a road convoy leaving for an African country that customs officers from the Southern Inter-Regional Directorate "detected the presence of heterogeneous bodies inside the cargo supposed to consist of papers and cardboard products for export". The suspected goods were then subjected to a thorough inspection, which revealed the presence of several bales of cannabis weighing a total of 6,300 kilograms, carefully hidden inside the paper, the customs department notes.

The lockdown period and the state of health emergency have not managed to deter the traffickers. On May 14, 2020, elements of the Kénitra Mobile Brigade had already intercepted "378 kilograms of cannabis stems, 91 kilograms of tobacco leaves and 10 kilograms of ground tobacco, following a security operation".

Still in the same month, on the night of May 8, elements of the Agadir Mobile Brigade managed to seize another quantity of drugs on board two vehicles on the main road leading to Taroudant. "180 kilograms of cannabis, 146 kilograms of tobacco leaves and 650 kilograms of cannabis stems were seized", specifies the [Moroccan Customs].