Former Wydad Casablanca football club president Saïd Naciri, who is currently in pre-trial detention in connection with the case involving international drug trafficker Haj Ahmed Benbrahim—known as the “Escobar of the Sahara”—has requested that Moroccan singer Latifa Raafat and PAM party MP Abdelouahed Chouki be summoned to testify and face him in court.
During his appearance Friday before the Criminal Chamber of the Casablanca Court of Appeal, Naciri also asked the court to summon Benbrahim himself for a direct confrontation regarding the statements made against him in police reports.
Naciri sought to discredit witness testimonies, particularly those from Latifa Raafat, who claimed to have met him during the 2013 Zagora Festival, where she was allegedly accompanied by Benbrahim. Raafat also alleged that the “California Villa” was turned into a venue for drug use and parties, including the consumption of cocaine.
In his defense, Naciri denied any such activities, claiming that Raafat herself lived at the villa after divorcing Benbrahim, and that the timelines cited by her were incorrect. He stated he had no connection to the property during the period in question.
The court also confronted Naciri with a key accusation by Benbrahim, who said he handed Naciri 15 million dirhams in cash at a luxury restaurant in Casablanca. Naciri denied this, saying the restaurant mentioned didn’t even exist at the time the alleged transaction took place, calling the claims “completely baseless.”
These developments come as part of an ongoing investigation into a major international drug trafficking network that has implicated several high-profile figures, including politicians, artists, and businessmen.
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