Morocco has jailed 29 people, including politicians and athletes, on drug charges Narcotics Issues

The court of Casablanca will give a famous sentence in the case of the ‘Escobar of the Sahara’: up to 12 years for the elite.

A court in Morocco has handed down 12-year sentences to 29 people – including prominent politicians and sports stars – ending a major international drug-trafficking and corruption case.

The verdicts, handed down late Thursday in Casablanca after a two-year trial, are one of the biggest anti-corruption deals in Morocco’s history.

Among those found guilty were Abdennebi Bioui, activist and former regional council president, Said Naciri, former president of Casablanca’s Wydad AC football club and sports club and former MP Belkacem Mir – all senior members of the ruling PAM party. Naciri received 10 years, Bioui 12 and Mir 10.

With the exception of the three main defendants, the sentences of the rest ranged from two to nine years, depending on their role in the Internet.

The major case was sparked by court testimony from El Hadj Ahmed Ben Brahim, a Malian drug trafficker known as the “Pablo Escobar of the Sahara”.

Currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in Morocco, Ben Brahim told investigators that former political and business associates in Morocco betrayed him, confiscating his luxury properties and multimillion-dollar cars after his arrest in 2019.

The case involved 20 defendants, 18 witnesses and two government parties that focused on a leading network that transported tons of cannabis from Morocco to North Africa to Europe, along with Latin American shipments of cocaine.

The accused were found guilty of drug and gold trafficking, bribery, corruption and money laundering.

The court also decided to confiscate his goods and impose hundreds of millions of dollars in customs duties and fines on the top leaders.

Moroccan media reported that the families of the convicted, who were present without legal representation due to a boycott of lawyers, panicked, while some collapsed in court.

The case reached the highest levels of government, prompting King Mohammed VI to call for a new law aimed at “respecting” parliamentary life.