On October 26th, police services in the province of Nador, in coordination with the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST), dismantled an organized criminal network active in human trafficking and organization illegal immigration north of the Kingdom.
Police services launched a series of simultaneous security interventions in both the city of Nador and its orbital regions, especially in Zeghanghane, Beni Chiker, Beni Boughafer, Bouarg, and Selouane.
This led to the arrest of 23 persons, including Moroccan nationals and 4 sub-Saharan Africans suspected of involvement in intermediation to bring candidates and organize maritime migration, as well as the provision of equipment and logistics used to carry out these criminal activities.
The investigations and seizure procedures initiated by the Judicial Police (BCIJ) during these intensive security interventions led to seize important logistical assets, such as: 125 marine engines, 8 rubber boats, a large range of maritime navigation equipment GPS, life jackets, guidance and speedometer gauges, and gasoline containers, as well as 66 plates of chira, two water bikes, two recreational boats, and ten cars, some of which carry forged license plates, suspected of being used in these criminal activities.
Proceeding with investigation operations, the police services dismantled a workshop dedicated to manufacturing rubber boats used in human smuggling operations and displaced people in the Selouane area. Equipment used to sew and glue boats’ materials was found inside the workshop, as well as significant quantities of plastic raw materials destined for manufacturing these boats.
All the suspects were kept in custody pending a judicial investigation conducted under the supervision of the competent Public Prosecutor’s Office to uncover all those involved in this criminal network and monitor its extensions and possible links inside and outside Morocco.
The dismantling of this criminal network, which has extensions in several regions and cities in the Kingdom, comes within the framework of the intensive and continuous efforts of the services of the General Directorate of National Security and the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance with the aim of combating the networks of illegal migration and trafficking in human beings.