Tangier court jails Dutch-Moroccan man for five years in Mocro Maffia case

A Tangier court sentenced a Dutch-Moroccan man to five years in prison after convicting him on charges linked to organized crime, firearms, attempted murder and drug trafficking, in a case built partly on evidence supplied by Dutch judicial authorities, daily Assabah reported.

The defendant, arrested in Tangier and suspected of links to the Mocro Maffia network, denied all charges before the criminal chamber of the Tangier Court of Appeal.

Prosecutors accused him of forming a criminal gang, attempted murder using a firearm, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, aggravated theft, attempted arson and trafficking in hard drugs.

During questioning, the presiding judge confronted him with statements attributed to him during the investigation, including claims that he had met Ridouan Taghi, one of Europe’s most notorious organized-crime figures, three times in Dubai.

The defendant denied knowing Taghi and said the investigating judge’s record did not accurately reflect his statements.

He also rejected allegations linking him to firearms and ammunition found in a house in the Netherlands and denied monitoring people allegedly targeted by a group described in the case file as the “Angels of Death.”

Moroccan judges also reviewed digital material provided through judicial cooperation with the Netherlands, including data from a phone, computer and tablet that investigators said was linked to the burning of a Maserati.

The defence argued that the case relied heavily on information received through an international judicial request and lacked conclusive evidence.

Prosecutors said the case reflected a wider pattern of European suspects of Moroccan origin seeking refuge in Morocco after becoming targets of investigations abroad.

The court rejected the defence arguments and imposed a five-year prison sentence, citing the case documents and evidence exchanged between Moroccan and Dutch authorities.