A Moroccan court sentences 29 prominent people in major drug trafficking and corruption case
The court also ordered asset seizures and heavy customs fines after testimony from a jailed Malian trafficker helped expose the network.
- On Thursday, a Moroccan court sentenced 29 individuals to prison, including construction tycoon Abdennebi Bioui and former PAM lawmakers Said Naciri and Belkacem Mir, concluding a major drug trafficking and corruption trial.
- The case began after an imprisoned drug lord dubbed "Sahara's Pablo Escobar" alleged his business associates, including senior Moroccan politicians, were involved in trafficking; those accused have denied the allegations.
- Financial penalties include asset seizures capped at $1 million for Bioui, Naciri, and Mir, who must jointly pay Hadj Ahmed Ben Brahim $106,599 in restitution.
- Shouts of protest erupted from the defendants' box as sentences were announced, with some shouting "I haven't done anything." Attorneys can appeal the ruling.
- The scandal reignited debates over corruption, prompting King Mohammed to call for a legally binding code of ethics to "moralize" life in parliament, as Morocco remains a major hashish producer.
15 Articles
15 Articles
In Morocco, the former boss of the football club Wydad Casablanca (WAC), Said Naciri, and the former president of a region of eastern Morocco, Abdenbi Bioui, were sentenced on Thursday 25 June 2026, respectively, to 10 and 12 years in prison, in a vast drug trafficking case. This case, which makes great noise in the country, was triggered by the revelations of Ahmed Ben Brahim, said the "Pablo Escobar du Sahara", a Malian national imprisoned in …
Malian drug trafficker Ahmed Ben Brahim, known as the Pablo Escobar of the Sahara, threw off the banner of political corruption in Morocco after feeling betrayed by former accomplices and testaferros, who seized their assets when he was behind bars in 2023. From the prison, he sang flatly before the police to accuse more than 20 former deputies, security forces officers and officials of integrating the largest public corruption network linked to…
Associated Press News
A Moroccan court sentences 29 prominent people in major drug trafficking and corruption case
A Moroccan court has sentenced 29 people, including politicians and business figures, in a major drug trafficking and corruption case.
The trial of the so-called "Pablo Escobar du Sahara" case will remain as the first to have involved prominent Moroccan political figures in a vast international drug trade. Convictions are heavy but not all questions have been answered.
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