Moroccan Fishermen-Turned-Drug Lords Arrested in Spain for Massive Hashish Trafficking

Childhood friends on the streets of Al Hoceima, Morocco, the two Moroccans learned to fish together, then to navigate and ended up becoming drug suppliers to powerful trafficking networks in the strait, including Messi. The first, FAA, was until last December one of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world. In addition to hashish, he also transports cocaine from Colombia to distribute it in Europe from Spain. Over the last five months of 2021, he shipped 117 tons of hashish and 3.4 tons of cocaine to Spain, reports ABC.

The Moroccan, naturalized Spanish, as well as 16 other members of his network, was arrested by the Civil Guard in Barcelona in December. His right-hand man and childhood friend, AA, was arrested in Malaga with nine other alleged drug traffickers including a lawyer, specialized in drug trafficking cases. Nearly one million euros in cash, 10 high-end vehicles, a boat, watches and jewelry worth more than three million euros and 18,000 euros in Christmas toys were seized in Barcelona, Vigo and San Roque (Cádiz).

At the time of FAA’s arrest, limited edition collector’s watches worth up to 800,000 euros were found on board yachts, as well as five phones. He was coordinating various offshore operations. After analyzing all the seized devices and documents, the agents discovered that he was laundering drug money in Dubai by creating companies in countries like the UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland or Turkey.

The two Moroccans have been coordinating their activities for about ten years. They transport drugs on boats leaving the Netherlands, sailing for months to load the drugs in Morocco before introducing them on the Spanish coasts. In total, 27 people were arrested during the operation to dismantle this network, including 6 under investigation. 58 bank accounts were frozen and 36 high-end vehicles as well as 10 other assets were also seized.