Wanted everywhere, they end up arrested in Morocco
Drug barons, fraudsters wanted in the United States, kidnapping suspects or fugitives carrying forged papers: arrests are multiplying in Morocco. Since the beginning of the year, around thirty people wanted by Interpol are believed to have already been intercepted there.
On July 11, a 35-year-old German of Kosovar origin thought he was simply entering Morocco through Casablanca airport. Police checks revealed that he was wanted by German justice, notably for international drug trafficking and arson as part of a gang war. This type of arrest has become almost routine: according to a count by TelQuel, around thirty people wanted by Interpol have been arrested in the kingdom since January.
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The profiles give an idea of the caliber of the people being sought. In early July, an Indian wanted by the United States over an alleged fraud of more than two million dollars was arrested in Casablanca. In Martil, a Dutchman accused of defrauding 135 investors of nearly five million euros had been arrested a few months earlier. In the same city, police had also found Indonesian national Michael Steven, who was wanted after the alleged embezzlement of nearly 165 million dollars.
The refuge becomes a trap
Above all, the operations no longer concern only a few high-profile arrests. On June 8, eleven people were arrested simultaneously in Marrakech and Tangier. Ten were wanted by Interpol at the request of France, Belgium and the Netherlands in particular, in cases involving international drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime.
Some names had already provided an indication of this effectiveness. Félix Bingui, known as “Le Chat,” the alleged leader of Marseille’s Yoda clan and then described by Gérald Darmanin as one of the biggest French drug traffickers, was arrested in Casablanca in March 2024 before being extradited to France in January 2025. The following year, Badiss Bajjou, suspected of having coordinated several kidnappings targeting the French cryptocurrency community from Morocco, was located and then arrested in Tangier. In the latter case, French investigators had sent the Moroccan authorities the GPS coordinates of his hideout.
Even changing one’s identity no longer guarantees slipping through the net. On August 6, in Oujda, a 25-year-old Dutchman wanted by the justice system in his country for his alleged involvement in a criminal network was arrested while staying illegally in Morocco.
This succession of arrests is also due to the organization of the Moroccan system. DGST intelligence makes it possible to locate certain suspects, while the Interpol National Central Bureau in Rabat shares its information directly with the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police. Its head, Mohammed Dkhissi, also serves simultaneously as central director of the judicial police, head of the Interpol Morocco NCB and vice president of Interpol for Africa.
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The number of cases is following the same trend. Morocco received 96 extradition requests in 2025, compared with 63 a year earlier, according to data from the public prosecutor’s office. An increase of more than 50% in twelve months. Morocco could once have appeared to some foreign criminals as a destination where they could disappear. The arrests from Casablanca to Tangier, Marrakech, Martil and Oujda now show the opposite risk: entering Morocco can also mark the end of the run.
