Rabat – The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) declared yesterday the seizure of 6.3 tons of cannabis resin at the Morocco-Mauritania border crossing of coastal Guerguerat, south of Dakhla.

The operation falls within a collaboration between DGSN and Moroccan customs services operating along the southern border.

Border control procedures led to the discovery of the seized cannabis that was hidden in a cargo of cardboard paper on board a Moroccan-registered truck, revealed DGSN yesterday in a press release.

DGSN also arrested the 36-year-old driver who was heading to a sub-Saharan country, added the source.

Moroccan customs agents seized the drugs, while DGSN arrested the truck driver.  The public prosecutor’s office is conducting an investigation on the matter.

The operation falls within the framework of constant efforts by various security services to combat international trafficking in drugs and psychotropic substances, DGSN concluded.

Security services have recently conducted several similar operations in Morocco, despite the COVID-19 state of emergency.

On May 10, Moroccan police seized 3.5 tons of cannabis resin on board a truck at the Tit Mellil motorway toll station, near the city of Casablanca.

Police arrested the driver carrying 106 drug packages, carefully concealed in a cargo of fodder products.

Earlier, this month, police seized 7.2 tons of cannabis resin from a truck bearing false license plates at the same toll station near Casablanca. The individuals involved in the trafficking operation abandoned the truck, which contained 220 bundles of drugs.

DGSN recorded a 20% decline in the country’s general crime rate between March 2019 and the same period in 2020, which translates approximately to 10,867 fewer criminal cases in the country.