The police in Morocco have confirmed the seizure of 5.4 tonnes of cannabis resin which was stashed in a truck headed for Spain, and 60 kilogrammes of cocaine packed in frozen tuna sparkling fresh controversies in the North African country.
Security and customs officers took over the cannabis resin in the northern port of Tangier ‘on board an international freight truck’, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) revealed yesterday.
The resin blocks were forced into plates slotted into specially fitted cavities, including in the truck’s chassis. Also, the 45-year-old Moroccan driver was arrested.
In a separate operation, also in Tangier, nearly 60 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized last Thursday inside a refrigerated container, police said.
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The cocaine was packed in tuna marked as coming from Ecuador and destined for Spain.
Morocco is the world’s largest producer of cannabis resin according to the United Nations, and police seized nearly 100 tonnes last year.
Police in recent years have also made multiple large seizures of cocaine, with South American cartels using the North African nation as a smuggling transit hub for Europe.
In another report, a convicted British man will spend 10 years in Moroccan prison for possessing and distributing counterfeit money while on holiday in the North African country.
The man whose name was given as Oliver Andrews, from Bournemouth, had actually travelled with a friend to Marrakech when they were arrested last November.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the pair, who have already spent five months in prison, were convicted and sentenced at a hearing on 11 April.
Mr. Andrews’ partner, Alanna Cornick, described it as the “worst possible outcome” and said they would appeal.
On 10 November 2022, the 29-year-old and a friend went to a nightclub on the last night of their holiday.