Moroccan Gendarmes on Trial for Alleged Corruption in Drug Trafficking Case

Tuesday’s hearing was marked by the lawyer representing the accused Rachid S., a former gendarme in Beni Mellal, raising the contradictions in the statements of the drug trafficker, who claimed to have paid bribes to the gendarmes to facilitate his illicit activities. He confused Mohamed S., presenting substantial evidence showing that his client was no longer in office at the time the suspicions were raised against him. He also exposed the contradictions between the trafficker’s statements and the documents presented in court.

"Mohamed S. would have claimed to have handed over a sum of money to Rachid S. at a time when the latter was on leave in Essaouira, while the gendarme had left his post the previous January," reports Hespress. According to the lawyer, the trafficker had mentioned vague transactions over a 15-day period. He also expressed his surprise at the absence of a confrontation between the drug trafficker and his client gendarme, regretting that the investigating judge had not ordered it, even though no constraint prevented him from doing so. He did not hesitate to criticize the use of "isolated" testimonies mentioning the name of the gendarme.

Information indicating alleged complicity with drug trafficking in the region led to the arrest of 37 gendarmes from Béni Mellal and neighboring regions. The drug trafficker was the subject of dozens of national arrest warrants. He was finally arrested on the instructions of the Attorney General of the King.