Morocco arrests 12 people suspected of belonging to a terrorist cell

The Central Bureau of Judiciary Investigations (BCIJ), under the General Directorate for National Territory Surveillance, in close collaboration with national police (DGSN) and on the basis of accurate information provided by the directorate general for territory surveillance (DGST), has arrested twelve people accused of belonging to a terrorist and criminal network operating in the cities of Tangiers and Casablanca.

Among these people are individuals with criminal record for common law crimes as well as former detainees in cases of terrorism and extremism, said a joint statement by the DGSN and the DGST, adding that the brother of one of the suspects arrested is currently fighting with the terrorist group of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

According to investigations carried out, the members of this network are involved in the execution of drug and psychotropic pills trafficking operations, kidnapping and sequestration for ransom and the use of bladed weapons, tear gas bombs, molotov cocktails and cars with fake license plates, the source added.

These operations are executed either in the context of the settling of scores with criminal networks or in accordance with what is called in the jargon of followers of extremist thought the principle of "al istihlal" and "faya’a", as it was the case during the attempted housebreaking in Tangier last Friday by members of this network, which led to the death of a person accused of involvement in drug cases after falling from the 7th floor of a building.

The searches carried out in this case led to the seizure of several products and weapons used in the execution of criminal plans, including masks, bladed weapons, electronic scales, five car license plates, in addition to the booty of several criminal operations such as electronic devices, CDs, cell phones, radical books, transfers receipts and fake identity documents, the source pointed out, adding that a smart watch, four cars, hard drugs and large sums of money were also seized.

The suspects were remanded in custody pending the completion of the investigation which is led under the supervision of the prosecutor's office in charge of terrorism cases in order to determine the possible links with other criminal networks.