Moroccan Official Flees Country Amid Drug Trafficking Scandal, Court Orders Arrest

According to a source from the Badil media, Youssef Morad, informed of the decision to incarcerate him, left Morocco a few hours before the pronouncement of his judgment. The Fès Court of Appeal ordered his detention, as well as that of a police officer serving in the city of Nador, overturning the release decision made by the investigating judge of the second chamber of the court of first instance.

The court made this decision based on new data and evidence confirming the involvement of the accused in an international drug trafficking and money laundering network. The leader of the network is the owner of a currency exchange office in Fès, used as a screen to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking to Europe. The gang was dismantled at the end of an investigation conducted by the regional judicial police brigade of Fès since November 2024.

The regional council secretary acknowledged his relationship with the network, as well as his involvement in the creation of a tourism transport company in the name of the police officer’s wife.