The network smuggled psychotropics to Morocco to make ‘Karkubi’ – a mix of hashish, psychotropics, and glue or alcohol.
Rabat – The Spanish Police arrested the leader and 7 members of a drug trafficking network in the provinces of Madrid, Lleida, and Alicante. The network manufactures karkubi drugs in Morocco with Spanish psychotropics, Moroccan hashish, and alcohol or glue.
Spanish Police reported on January 12 that Spanish and Moroccan authorities seized 500,000 pills of benzodiazepine manufactured by the network in both territories.
In the press release, authorities confirmed that the operation started in June 2021 after a Moroccan rental van in Lleida was reported to authorities and investigated. Spanish authorities found 4,477 grams of cocaine and 361,672 tablets of psychotropic drugs in the vehicle.
The Spanish Police and Tax Agency Agency Customs Surveillance Service along with Moroccan DGSN, and Tangier MED Police Cooperation Center conducted the investigation.
“From that moment, the agents determined the existence of a criminal organization, with strong roots in the city of Lleida, presumably dedicated to obtaining different medicines from the benzodiazepine family for the subsequent manufacture, in Morocco, of a drug known as karkubi,” Spanish Police stated.
The sting operation was carried out in four phases, authorities reported.
In September 2021, Spanish agents found a commercial shipment company in Lleida smuggling benzodiazepine drugs to Ceuta then to Casablanca. As a result, they confiscated 80,000 tablets in two industrial furnaces in Madrid.
Following the first phase of the operation, the drug ring changed its transport mode. By mid-September, smugglers used vehicles to transport drugs to Séte port in France, rode ferries to Nador, and continued to Casablanca.
Phase 2 concluded with the arrest of a vehicle driver of Moroccan origin in Séte port, France, and the seizure of 70,000 benzodiazepine pills.
In November 2021, authorities detained two organization members transporting 62,000 anxiolytic tablets. The drugs were divided into 40 small packages hidden in one suitcase, one large bag, and the body of a vehicle.
In mid-December 2021, Spanish authorities conducted the last phase of the investigation, which led to the detention of five members in Lleida and Alicante and the confiscation of 300 pills and MAD 284,519 (€27,000) in cash.
The organization’s leader, who is of Moroccan origin, was arrested in Lleida. The main supplier was detained in Alicante.
On January 1, European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol reported the detention of 17 drug traffickers consisting of 6 Moroccan and 11 Spanish nationals.
Two suspects had international arrest warrants due to their connection with the 2018 seizure of 1,004 kg of cocaine in Morocco.
Europol stated that the organization’s leader “is believed to be one of the major importers of cocaine and hashish from Morocco to the Iberian Peninsula.”
The organization also used a network of legal businesses for money laundering purposes.
In the 2021 World Drug Report, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that Spain ranks first in drug seizures with 350 tonnes. Morocco follows with 300 tonnes, then ranks Afghanistan with almost 200 tonnes, Pakistan with 160 tonnes, and Iran with 75 tonnes.
Notably, Morocco is the world’s biggest producer of cannabis resin. Between 2015 and 2019, 20% of confiscated hashish in the globe traced back to Morocco.
