Too big to bust: A look at Morocco’s $320bn drug industry

Different drugs can be supplied for different demographics. Different types and grades cater to different groups and different purposes. They can be found across Europe, but especially in cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, London, Barcelona, Oslo, Zurich, Basel, Rome, Madrid, Marseille, Copenhagen, and Brussels.

Controlling Europe

These cities have become global drug market hubs, facilitated by cross-border networks, with North African OCGs particularly active. For instance, a Guardian investigation earlier this year found that a Morocco-based OCG known as the Mocro Maffia controls the area around Brussels Eurostar Terminal and Europe's second largest container port 30 miles north of that, at Antwerp.

Alex Goosdeel, director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), speaks of "a growing association between violence and the drug trade, particularly among major dealers who fiercely compete to dominate the market and expand their sales, a trend that has intensified over the last 15 years".

Europol corroborates this observation, noting that "the drug market has become intertwined with arms trafficking and money laundering activities… These groups frequently engage in conflicts over drug distribution and illegal firearms smuggling, often resorting to the use of firearms in public spaces".

In some areas of Belgium, the Netherlands, and southern France, OCGs engaged in the drug trade effectively control whole neighbourhoods, employing hundreds of informants to monitor and report police activity. Many of these informants are young immigrants lured by the dealers' wealth.

Drug trafficking gangs are often also involved in human trafficking, arms trafficking, and contract killings. Heavily armed, they can employ extreme violence and use planes, helicopters, ships, boats, trucks, and buses to move drugs, arms, and people.

Spain is on the frontline of the global fight against the drugs trade, given its proximity to the cannabis farms of northern Morocco and its role as a consumer market for Latin American cocaine, which is highly sought-after in European nightclubs.

Moroccan exports

In 2021, Morocco legalised the cultivation of cannabis for use in medicine, regulating it under strict government supervision and guidelines. This is now sold to producers of medications aimed at treating specific chronic illnesses.

At the same time, authorities boosted efforts to combat the traffickers with some success. In 2019, a Malian drug lord named Ahmed Ben Brahim (nicknamed the 'Pablo Escobar of the Sahara') was arrested. Earlier this year, from a Casablanca prison cell, he told police who else was involved.

Incensed that his one-time Moroccan accomplices had turned on him and seized his assets, including property in Russia, South America, and Morocco, he spilled the beans. This led to the arrests of 25 influential figures in a huge anti-corruption operation that captivated the public.

Another example was highlighted by the personal visit to Morocco of French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin last April to express his gratitude to the authorities for arresting Felix Bangi, aka 'Le Chat', one of France's most wanted drug traffickers. Bangi headed an OCG known as 'Yoda', which has been at war with another OCG known as 'DZ Mafia' in Marseille. Their deadly feud has led to 40 killings.

Third-generation immigrants from North Africa now control drug markets in European countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, resulting in substantial wealth, influence, and displays of luxury such as cars, clothing, shoes, and watches.

Many lack any formal education and exhibit a tendency towards violence, posing significant security risks and threatening public safety. EU partners are now working with Moroccan border authorities to intercept the drugs and apprehend the traffickers.

Working together

Cooperation between Moroccan and Spanish authorities along the Mediterranean coast in particular has significantly disrupted drug smuggling activities, but it is a game of cat-and-mouse, with the traffickers able to adapt their methods when needed. Their use of helicopters equipped with radar-jamming and satellite interference is a case in point.

In mid-May, Spanish border guards and the Moroccan Royal Gendarmerie successfully thwarted a major drug smuggling operation. Professional pilots were to fly Eastern European helicopters at low altitudes at night to evade detection before the authorities arrested nine individuals involved in the operation.

Madrid acknowledges the role Morocco plays in combating the cartels, which operate across borders, have extensive networks of informers and clients, and have significant financial resources in multiple currencies, as well as experts in passport forgery.

Like many other countries, both Spain and Morocco grapple with the profound impact of drug trafficking. In Morocco, treating the health problems resulting from drugs takes up a significant chunk of the annual health budget.

Approximately 4% of Moroccans are estimated to be drug users. Hallucinogens pose a particularly daunting challenge to health authorities. These substances are much more potent than cannabis, which is classified as a sedative.

One step ahead

The continuing global demand for drugs means that the illicit trade continues to thrive, with earnings typically invested in real estate, digital currencies, precious metals, and jewellery.

The OCGs have a range of ways in which they circumvent financial monitoring through banking systems like SWIFT, including barter transactions. They also seek expand into new territories, increase production, and capture larger shares of a market that could be worth $500bn by 2030.

There are reports of OCGs recruiting children from refugee camps and displaced communities in the African Sahel region and sending them to Europe to do their bidding in the supply of drugs and the settling of disputes.

Some of the cartels' operations now span several continents. They command armed militias and exploit regions plagued by political instability, economic fragility, and inadequate security. Ultimately, they aim to coerce governments and manipulate elections, including through violence and kidnapping.

The biggest cartels infiltrate parliaments, political parties, media platforms, and social networks, and are active in the finance, tourism, entertainment, and leisure industries. Their brutality breeds a culture of silence around them.

These gangs prey on the wars and humanitarian crises that displace tens of thousands, creating vast numbers of vulnerable people. With conflicts and violence being seen around the world, the OCGs look like they are here to stay.