Morocco Intensifies Crackdown on ’Poufa’: Cheap Drug Epidemic Sparks Health and Social Crisis

Responding to a written question from the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) in the House of Representatives, Abdelouafi Laftit, Minister of the Interior, presented the approach adopted in the fight against drugs. This approach, he says, aims to restrict supply and strengthen surveillance at border areas, as well as on roads to combat drug trafficking, but also "to reduce demand by taking preventive measures, including awareness campaigns and strengthening surveillance of public places frequented by young people and minors, such as cafes, clubs and game centers".

The actions taken are already bearing fruit, it is said. A total of 395 cases related to the "Poufa" drug were handled between January 2020 and August 2023, the minister said, specifying that the services of the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) managed to seize four kilograms of the same drug during this period. He also said that 156,552 cases related to the possession, consumption and trafficking of drugs were handled between January 2022 and July 31, 2023 and that the police arrested 204,761 people for their alleged involvement in similar cases during the same period. During this period, 5,841 cases related to the possession, consumption and trafficking of drugs were recorded in the Moroccan rural areas, Laftit further specifies, adding that 7,037 people were arrested.