Moroccan authorities have seized more than 4 million psychotropic pills over the past three years, mainly smuggled into Morocco from neighboring countries, Police Commissioner Taoufik Sayerh, Head of the National Security Forensic Sciences Institute, said on Monday in Casablanca.
3Drug use and addiction are recognized as a major public health issue in Morocco, and the fight against drug trafficking is a national priority,” Sayerh stressed in a statement delivered on behalf of the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) on the occasion of the 5th International Symposium of Directors of Forensic Drug Analysis Laboratories, being held from January 19 to 23 in Casablanca.
In 2025 alone, more than 1,600,000 units of these pills were seized, representing a 10% increase compared to 2024, he noted.
“With the emergence of new psychoactive substances, the growing sophistication of production networks, the complexity of transit routes, and the increasingly younger age of users, coupled with a trend toward trivialization, this trafficking now constitutes one of the most serious scourges threatening public health. It also has a negative impact on national economies, security, and public order, and consequently hampers countries’ development,” he said, adding that this situation requires not only a firm response, but above all a scientifically rigorous one.
Convinced of the proven collaboration between drug traffickers and various non-state actors, including terrorist and separatist groups that use the proceeds of illicit activities to fuel regional instability, Morocco is pursuing a multidimensional strategy combining law enforcement, international cooperation, and a public health approach to combat narcotics and synthetic drug trafficking, Sayerh noted.
To effectively counter the harmful effects of this phenomenon, Morocco has adopted a comprehensive and integrated strategy to combat drug and psychotropic substance trafficking, periodically aligned with resolutions adopted by United Nations bodies. This strategy focuses on supply reduction, prevention of drug abuse and consumption, combating illicit trafficking, and strengthening international cooperation, he added.
Sayerh also underlined that the Kingdom has joined, as an active member, the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, launched in 2023 under the auspices of the United States, in order to coordinate responses to emerging synthetic products.
Morocco has also strengthened controls over passenger and goods flows, particularly through ports and airports, to curb the smuggling of psychotropic pills, he added, stressing that thanks to strong mobilization against these drugs, record seizures of synthetic substances were made by the DGSN in 2025 during targeted operations.
Furthermore, given that drug analysis and identification in specialized laboratories constitute the cornerstone of the forensic response to the phenomenon of synthetic drugs-since it is within these laboratories that evidence is established, trends are identified, and public health and security policies find their technical basis-the DGSN upgraded its National Police Forensic Laboratory in 2022 in line with international standards, equipping it with modern facilities and state-of-the-art analytical technologies, he said.
Certified ISO 17025 by the American accreditation body ANAB, this laboratory now plays a central role in analyzing drugs seized by law enforcement agencies and provides crucial information to investigators and the judiciary, he added.
Co-organized by the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) and the Colombo Plan for Economic and Social Development, the symposium, which runs until January 23, aims to share best practices and strengthen security cooperation in the field of forensic drug analysis, amid an escalating threat posed by synthetic drugs.
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