More than 100 criminal groups operate on the Costa del Sol, which has become a hub for international drug trafficking. Its proximity to Morocco, Gibraltar and the port of Algésiras facilitates business, but also settling scores between rival networks.
On the run for three years, Oussama B. was arrested on Wednesday at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, a few hours after leaving Morocco. He had just been sentenced to more than eleven years in prison for his role in preparing the murder of lawyer Derk Wiersum.
Extradited last summer from Dubai, Othman El Ballouti, 38, has just had his convictions confirmed. Belgian justice has imposed twenty-seven years imprisonment on him for his major role in a vast international cocaine trafficking operation.
Prosecuted for attempted murder and drug trafficking, a suspect linked to the famous Dutch criminal network appeared Thursday before the Tangier court of appeal. He is accused of acting as an informant for baron Ridouan Taghi.
Southern Spain is facing a violent shift in drug trafficking. While Moroccan hashish still transits through the Strait of Gibraltar, mafias, including the Mocro Maffia , are rethinking their routes under police pressure, plunging Andalusia into a security crisis.
Prosecutors have sought heavy sentences against the leaders of a vast drug trafficking network operating from Antwerp. These individuals lived a luxurious lifestyle abroad while collecting social benefits in Belgium.
Fleeing Dubai due to judicial and geopolitical pressure, drug traffickers are looking for new bases. Morocco, often cited as a potential landing spot, is multiplying arrests and international cooperation to avoid becoming a criminal sanctuary .
Long a sanctuary for European drug traffickers, Dubai is losing its appeal due to the increase in extraditions. Pushed out, some leaders of Moroccan-origin organized crime could seek refuge within the kingdom.
The investigation into the murder of Dutch journalist Peter R. de Vries is progressing with the arrest in Morocco of Ismail M. This arrest strengthens the hypothesis of a direct involvement of Ridouan Taghi’s criminal organization in this commissioned murder.
It is no longer just a rear base for money laundering in the sun. The formidable "Mocro Maffia" is mutating in Spain, transforming the Costa del Sol and the south of the country into a real logistics platform for drug trafficking and organized crime. Between judicial flaws and uncompromising violence, the authorities are sounding the alarm.
A spectacular police operation in the Spanish capital. The police apprehended three individuals suspected of being contract killers working for the formidable "Mocro Maffia". Wanted for a bloody shooting that occurred in mid-December in Belgium, the fugitives were attempting to cross the Iberian peninsula to find refuge in Morocco via the port of Algeciras.
Faced with the impossibility of extraditing Belgian and Dutch drug traffickers of Moroccan origin, the Netherlands and Belgium are cooperating with Morocco so that they can be prosecuted by the Moroccan justice system. Meanwhile, another destination is on the verge of becoming the new Eldorado for drug traffickers.