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| Africa North |
| Morocco trial begins for terror-linked drug ring |
| 2010-12-30 |
| [Maghrebia] A Sale court on Tuesday (December 28th) held hearings for six members of a Moroccan drug-trafficking network linked to Colombian narco mobs and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, MAP reported. Nearly three dozen alleged network members face charges including cocaine and chira trafficking, sexual deviance and unlawful confinement. The alleged ringleader, a Spanish national caught in Morocco, was reportedly working with another Spaniard jugged in Bamako and still jugged in Mali. According to Sherlocks, the network carried out eight drug trafficking operations in 2010. When the cell was dismantled last October, Interior Minister Moulay Taieb Cherkaou discussed the al-Qaeda and drug traffic alliance: "At this time, we can state without a shadow of a doubt that there is a relationship." According to Cherkaoui, drugs transported from Colombia and Venezuela are stored in northern Mali, where terror cells are particularly active. |
| Posted by:Fred |