Soldiers Arrested in Morocco for Impersonating Police, Scamming Curfew Violators

Following their arrest by the judicial police of Tetouan, the two auxiliary forces elements were brought before the public prosecutor’s office last Thursday. They are accused of impersonating a police officer, drunkenness, blackmail and possession of bladed weapons, reports Assabah, specifying that their arrest was a pure coincidence, while they were "conducting a routine patrol on Miramar Boulevard in Martil to ensure compliance with the measures taken by the competent authorities within the framework of the state of health emergency".

Equipped with a walkie-talkie, the two soldiers, on board a car registered in Casablanca, were posing as police officers. Targeting those who violated the curfew, they forced them to choose between paying a fine in their pocket and being taken into custody. The searches allowed the seizure in their car of operation, the walkie-talkie, a sum of 1800 dirhams, as well as bladed weapons and a bottle of alcohol.

During the interrogation, they did not deny the facts, even stressing that they had blackmailed a soldier of the Royal Armed Forces serving in the Moroccan Sahara region and many others. They also indicated that they had precise hours for their operations, in order to avoid the police elements who were doing routine patrols in the area. At the end of the investigation, they will be prosecuted for impersonation, blackmail, possession of bladed weapons, public drunkenness and forming a criminal gang.