Tanger: Police officers heavily sanctioned

The judges handed down sentences ranging from two to eight months of detention. An official from the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST) received the maximum sentence, while four of his colleagues and a businessman were sanctioned with shorter sentences. The prosecution upheld serious charges, including the disclosure of professional secrecy and illegal access to the data system to check wanted notices.

On Bladi.net: Dragnet in Tangier City: the BNPJ brings down a network of corrupt officials (police and customs)

The investigation was launched after the suspicious escape of a wanted individual, who managed to leave the territory without being disturbed. This dysfunction has shown a system of hidden commissions documented by telephone tapping. The investigations suggest that agents were trading their access to police databases to facilitate the passage of goods or protect suspects in exchange for financial rewards within the port of Tangier-City.

On Bladi.net: Tangier: End of the run for a French drug baron wanted by Interpol

In the dock, the accused pleaded innocent, justifying the sums of money mentioned by the existence of a mutual aid fund among colleagues. The defense tried to cancel the reports by challenging the legality of the telephone tapping. The lawyers also argued that the gifts received were a matter of simple social courtesy, while recalling that the mission of these agents was limited to observation and not to the execution of arrests.