Moroccan gendarmerie authorities seized three drones on Wednesday after they were spotted flying over agricultural fields in a rural area near the city of Berrechid, officials said.
The territorial brigade of the Royal Gendarmerie in Oulad Abou was placed on alert after receiving information about the drones operating over farmland in the hamlet of Douar Al-Bahala, within the jurisdiction of the commune of Sidi Ben Hamdoun, near Oulad Hriz.
Sources familiar with the case said a local farmer had rented the unmanned aerial vehicles from a private company to spray pesticides on weeds in his fields outside Berrechid.
Gendarmerie officers, accompanied by a representative of local authorities, went to the site and confiscated the drones in accordance with instructions from the public prosecutor, the sources said.
The competent public prosecutor’s office at the Berrechid Primary Court, under the jurisdiction of the Settat Court of Appeal, ordered the seizure of the three drones, estimated to be worth about 900,000 dirhams ($90,000). Authorities also ordered that the farmer and the person responsible for operating the drones be questioned.
The prosecutor granted a grace period for the parties involved to regularize their legal status before offering such services, the sources added.
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