Police find 4.1 tonnes of hashish and smuggling boats at farm near Fez

Moroccan security services seized 4.1 tonnes of hashish, four inflatable boats and four marine engines during an operation at a farm near Fez early Saturday, arresting three people suspected of links to an international drug-trafficking network.

The operation was carried out by the Fez regional judicial police brigade in coordination with the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance, or DGST, in the early hours of Oct. 10.

Officers arrested the main female suspect at a rural property and found a truck loaded with four tonnes and 100 kilograms of hashish, according to security-source reporting carried by several Moroccan outlets. Four inflatable boats and four marine engines were also seized and are suspected of having been prepared for maritime smuggling operations.

Investigators subsequently arrested two additional suspects believed to have participated in the same operation, bringing the total number detained to three.

A check of national police databases showed that the main suspect was already the subject of a nationwide arrest warrant in connection with another case involving alleged drug trafficking and psychotropic substances.

All three suspects have been placed in police custody as part of a judicial investigation supervised by the competent prosecutor’s office.

Investigators are now seeking to establish the suspected network’s wider connections, including any other individuals involved and possible domestic or international extensions of the trafficking operation.

The presence of inflatable boats and marine engines at the inland property is a central part of the investigation, with authorities suspecting that the equipment was intended to move drug shipments through maritime routes.

The case forms part of continuing joint operations by Morocco’s national police and domestic intelligence service against organized networks involved in international narcotics trafficking.