The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), in light of the information provided by the services of the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance, was able to arrest, from the evening of the 25th to the morning of the 26th, five people loyal to the terrorist organization ISIS aged between 20 to 45 years old. They were suspected of being involved in preparing terrorist schemes related to an individual or collective project aimed at seriously disrupting public order.
Intervention and arrest procedures have been initiated in sporadic operations, targeting suspects in places where they are active in Benmansour douar in Kenitra province, Sidi Yahya Zair and Al-Dashira in Inzegan Ait Malloul, and in Baouaboud in Chichawaa and Casablanca, says the release.
The BCIJ statement added that preliminary information of the investigation indicates that each of the suspects had pledged loyalty to ISIS and was engaging in terrorist projects, including either sabotage operations against vital interests in Morocco using explosives or targeting security agents and institutions as part of “individual terrorism” operations.
Investigations have also shown that one of the suspects arrested was keen to learn how to manufacture explosives.
According to the same source, the searches carried out at the house of the person arrested at “Benmansour” douar in Kenitra province last evening enabled the seizure of a hunting rifle and a quantity of ammunition, while the searches carried out at the houses of the rest of the detainees in the late hours of Wednesday morning resulted in the seizure of white arms and a set of digital equipment and support to be subjected to technical expertise.
The five persons arrested under custody were kept, pending research by the BCIJ, under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office responsible for cases of terrorism and extremism, to unveil all their terrorist plans and projects, and monitor possible intersections and associations with terrorist organizations outside Morocco.
The release concluded that the arrest of these suspects was in the context of the consolidation of proactive operations carried out by the Directorate’s interests to monitor the national territory so as to neutralize the risks of members of terrorist organizations before they move towards the physical implementation of their subversive projects, to protect citizens’ security and ensure the safety of their property against the threats posed to them by terrorist cells as well as those imbued with extremist thinking.