Morocco seizes 9.5 tonnes of cannabis in refrigerated truck

Around 9.5 tonnes of cannabis resin was seized from a refrigerated lorry near Morocco’s capital Rabat, the national security service said Monday.

A police operation intercepted “a refrigerated lorry carrying 380 bales of around 9.5 tonnes of the drug, hidden among a cargo of foodstuffs,” Morocco’s DGSN security service said.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested in possession of cash equivalent to $3,600, it added.

It is the latest in a string of large-scale seizures of cannabis.

Nearly 9.2 tonnes of cannabis resin hidden in bales buried in sand were seized in the southwest, the DGSN announced in early February.

In December, it announced the seizure of over a tonne of cannabis transported on the backs of a herd of unaccompanied camels in the south.

That came a day after the discovery of nearly two tonnes of resin in the vicinity of Laayoune, in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.

Morocco is one of the world’s biggest cannabis producers, although the authorities say they are cracking down on the illegal trade.

They seized nearly 180 tonnes of the drug in 2019.