Moroccan security services have seized 541 kilos of cocaine concealed in a container shipped from Latin America to Casablanca. Six people including a Brazilian national suspected of being the “mastermind of a criminal network” were arrested, said on Sunday Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ). In recent years, the Moroccan authorities have reported increasing cocaine seizures, including a record 2.5 tons of cocaine with a street value of $2.7 billion. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that between 20 and 40 MT of cocaine transits the region annually in route to Europe. The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation was established in 2015 and is among the agencies with authority to conduct counternarcotics investigations.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 12, 2018 11:26 UTC