Morocco’s Cannabis Crackdown Disrupts Drug Flow to France, Seizures Drop

After legalizing cannabis production for therapeutic purposes, pardoning last month 4,800 farmers convicted of cases related to illegal cultivation in order to allow them to obtain a license, and intensifying the crackdown on traffickers who intend to remain in illegality, Morocco is waging a fierce battle against cannabis trafficking.

In total, around 100 tons of resin were intercepted between January and July, 19 tons more than the official balance sheet drawn up last year by the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), says a security source in Rabat. This fight is forcing drug traffickers to reinvent themselves, to bypass the historic route through the Strait of Gibraltar where controls have been strengthened. By sea, "drug traffickers are trying to reach Portugal and the southwest of Spain, or even directly the north of the peninsula and Catalonia with increasingly faster boats," says Le Journal du Dimanche.

By road, the Maghreb corridor passing through Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt seems to be developing, attests a police source. The drug traffickers then head towards southern Europe with cannabis, packaged in "Moroccan suitcases". "A sign of a certain tension", the "uninhibited" violence against law enforcement in these countries crossed "is increasing" and "illustrates the exasperation of the traffickers in the face of this security crackdown," continues this source.

This fight is having a positive impact on the French market. "The pressure exerted by Morocco since the beginning of the year on cannabis resin traffickers has forced the latter to revisit their logistical strategies from the country," write the police officers of the anti-drug office (Ofast) in a note. Drug traffickers are increasingly using bypass routes and breaking up their shipments to avoid losses during checks.

This fight benefits France: the number of seizures exceeding 200 kilos of cannabis carried out by the French services has been reduced by a third. It went from 45 in the first half of 2023 to 30 interceptions over the same period this year.
At the origin of this decline in "large seizures" on French territory, the large quantities intercepted in Morocco and in the transit countries: 18.2 tons discovered in a truck south of Casablanca last June, and more than 13.3 tons confiscated in Algeria since the beginning of the year, compared to 7.7 tons over the same period in 2023, an increase of 73%. "Fewer and fewer thugs are getting rich in the drug trade. But more and more small-time crooks are living off it," observes a specialized investigator.