Spanish Court Approves Extradition of Moroccan Cocaine Smuggler Arrested in Ceuta

The Court of First Instance of Nador had issued an international arrest warrant against the defendant in October 2020, who was finally located and arrested in Ceuta a year later. In the decision of the Spanish judge to which El Faro de Ceuta had access, the Moroccan will be extradited to the kingdom to answer the crime of drug trafficking for which he is wanted.

The defendant is accused of having participated in the introduction of cocaine into Morocco from Melilla via jet-skis. In September 2020, 21 kilos of cocaine had been seized and three individuals arrested in Nador. After investigation and having placed suspects under surveillance, other traffickers including the defendant, were arrested. His extradition to Morocco has been ordered in application of the agreement in force between Spain and Morocco of June 2009.

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For its part, the defense of the Moroccan has pointed out that the international arrest warrant issued by the Moroccan authorities only indicates the nickname of the defendant under which he is known in the drug milieu. For this reason, he has requested that additional information be provided to determine his degree of involvement in the cocaine trafficking and to allow the identification of the other traffickers.

The justice system has considered that it is not up to it to control the procedure initiated by the Moroccan authorities, rejecting the arguments of the defense which, according to him, are not sufficient to prevent the extradition of the Moroccan to his country, which will be carried out after notification of the decision to the Subdirectorate General for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Justice and Interpol.