A Casablanca court sentenced former Oriental regional council president Abdenbi Bioui to 12 years in prison on Thursday and former Wydad Casablanca president Said Naciri to 10 years in the first-instance verdicts of Morocco’s high-profile desert escobar case.
The criminal chamber of the Casablanca Court of Appeal convicted the two former senior figures in the Authenticity and Modernity Party after a trial involving allegations of international drug trafficking, document forgery, fraud and influence peddling.
Bioui was convicted on charges that included forging official documents and participating in an agreement to possess, transport, traffic and export drugs. Naciri was convicted of offences including forgery, attempted fraud, influence peddling and participation in a drug trafficking agreement.
The court also sentenced Bioui’s brother, Abderrahim Bioui, to nine years in prison. A former PAM lawmaker identified by his surname, Belkacem, received a 10-year sentence on charges that included forgery, bribery, drug trafficking and facilitating irregular entry to and departure from Morocco.
The verdicts can be appealed.
The case involved 28 defendants, including businesspeople, company executives, a notary, public employees and members of the security services. Nine defendants addressed the court during the proceedings, while the others, including Abdenbi Bioui, exercised their right to remain silent.
Naciri denied the charges and told the court that he was innocent of the acts listed in the prosecution’s indictment.
The defendants were detained in December 2023 following an investigation into alleged links with Malian drug trafficker El Hadj Ahmed Ben Brahim, whose media nickname gave the case its name. Prosecutors alleged that members of the group helped move drugs and used forged documents and property transactions as part of their activities.
Ben Brahim is serving a separate 10-year sentence in Morocco for international drug trafficking. He was arrested in Casablanca in 2019 following an investigation linked to the seizure of 40 tonnes of cannabis resin in trucks he owned.
The prosecution of Naciri and Bioui drew national attention because of their positions in politics, local government, business and football. Naciri previously led Wydad Casablanca and chaired the Casablanca prefectural council, while Bioui headed the Oriental regional council.
PAM froze both men’s party memberships after their detention in December 2023, saying the measure was intended to avoid interfering with the judicial investigation.
The trial opened in May 2024 and continued for more than two years through testimony, prosecution submissions and defence arguments before the court delivered Thursday’s verdicts.
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