The Public Prosecutor at the Casablance Court of Appeals announced that 20 people have been imprisoned for their involvement in an international drug trafficking ring known as the Sahara Escobar Affair, and that another suspect has been placed under judicial supervision following interrogation by the investigating judge on Sunday.
In an official statement, the prosecutor’s office disclosed that 20 out of the original 25 individuals who appeared before the public prosecutor are currently incarcerated, including deputies, and law enforcement officers. One is under judicial supervision, while the remaining four are being investigated by judicial police.
Others are being prosecuted for their suspected involvement with a foreign national already serving a prison sentence for international drug trafficking, according to the findings of investigations conducted by the National Judicial Police Unit.
Despite the case’s complexity, the Public Prosecutor highlighted that these comprehensive investigations have thoroughly followed legal parameters and that they were carried out under the direct supervision of the public prosecution.
The examination of completed investigations prompted the public prosecutor to approach the investigating judge to conduct further inquiries into the suspected commission of crimes, including participation in drug possession and trafficking, corruption, forgery of official documents, involvement in the false imprisonment of others, duress, facilitating the entry/exit of nationals to/from Morocco as part of a gang, and concealing/disguising criminal property/assets.
The Public Prosecutor has committed to speedily disclose the results of the investigations when the investigations have concluded, while upholding the assumption of innocence and guaranteeing full compliance with legal obligations.
Said Naciri, President of Wydad (WAC) and a member of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), and Abdenabi Bioui, President of the Eastern Regional Council and PAM member also, are among those arrested for drug trafficking, money laundering, and abuse of power.
Politicians, sports officials, law enforcement personnel, notaries, and a fashion designer make up the majority of the suspects.
El Hadj Ahmed Ben Ibrahim, aka “the Malian” or “the Sahara Escobar,” captured at the Casablanca airport in 2019 and sentenced to over ten years in prison at El Jadida. He is one of the wealthiest and most prolific drug lords in this part of the world, and has been linked to money laundering relating to his ownership of vast swaths of real estate in all of the territories in which he had been operating.