Morocco Cracks Down on Drug Lords: Major Asset Seizures Target Money Laundering

We could well speak of a merciless war between the judicial authorities and the drug barons. Indeed, in their fight against this scourge, the authorities are displaying a new weapon no less formidable than the previous ones and which, moreover, intends to leave no chance for drug cartels to thrive in the kingdom.

It is the newspaper Al Massae that has provided this information, stating that "the justice system has just opened the file on money laundering carried out by known drug barons in the north of the kingdom, particularly in Tangier." Putting its new modus operandi into practice, justice has thus ordered the seizure of several real estate properties, including land and businesses, cars and other valuable assets used by the incriminated persons to launder their drug trafficking proceeds.

In total, Al Massae speaks of "assets worth over 50 million dirhams, affected by this vast seizure operation that the defense of the accused nevertheless considers as not belonging to them." These include "a very high-end coastal villa, six cafes, two restaurants, as well as several other real estate properties located in the city center of Tangier", seized on the basis of the conclusions of a judicial investigation conducted in recent months.

Interestingly, the newspaper reports that "the vast majority of these assets are, officially, the property of the descendants or family members of six known barons belonging to two different trafficking networks", adding that their acquisition in the same time frame suggests suspicions of money laundering.