Algerian Radio
International reports note that Morocco has become one of the largest producers and exporters of narcotics, highlighting the existence of organized networks specialized in spreading cannabis across Europe and neighboring countries. The fully complicit Makhzen has turned this criminal activity into a genuine parallel economic sector and a tool for blackmail and pressure to serve its colonialist ambitions, exercised notably in Europe.
According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Morocco remains one of the world's largest producers of cannabis resin, with an annual production of 2,500 to 3,000 tons.
The report specifies that a portion of this production is made available to international trafficking networks primarily targeting European countries and North Africa, with their starting point in northern Morocco. Over the years, cannabis production and trafficking have transitioned from an isolated criminal activity to a practice deeply rooted in social reality, encouraged for years by the programmed laxity and blatant complicity of the Makhzen.
This observation is supported by the "EU Drug Market 2025" report from the European Union Drugs Agency. The report notes the seizure, in recent years, of 551 tons of cannabis resin, in addition to the recording of over 265,000 operations resulting in the seizure of other varieties of drugs. According to the same source, cannabis from Morocco represented the largest share of the drugs intercepted during these operations.
The report notes that the Spanish coasts represent the most important transit points for drug trafficking destined for Europe from the south (Morocco). In 2021, Spain seized approximately 672 tons of cannabis resin produced in Morocco, which has become one of the focal points for international narcotics trafficking networks.
Furthermore, the European Drug Report 2025 and the Global Organized Crime Index 2025 reveal that trafficking networks linked to Morocco rely on a complex logistical base and multiple routes to transport drugs to Europe, which represents a threat to the stability of the entire region.
This trade generates colossal financial gains which, in turn, fuel other criminal activities such as money laundering and the illicit arms trade. This reinforces the development of organized crime and further complicates the security challenges faced by the region.
Drug Trafficking and the Parallel Economy
It is difficult to understand the expansion of drug trafficking without considering the role of the parallel economy in Morocco, with cannabis cultivation representing one of the largest components of this economy in a vast wilaya in the north of the country. According to data provided by the United Nations, cannabis cultivation in Morocco covers an area of 37,000 hectares and sustains 140,000 families, demonstrating widespread complicity by the Makhzen regime.
The Global Organized Crime Index 2025 report notes, moreover, that organized crime is gaining ground in Morocco, with a particular growth in activities related to drug trafficking.
The impact of this scourge extends beyond Moroccan borders to affect neighboring countries, including Algeria, thereby targeting its youth in the form of a war aimed at the country's national security. According to the Ministry of National Defense, units of the People's National Army (ANP) have thwarted numerous attempts to introduce drugs across the western borders during the year 2025, thanks to the high vigilance of ANP troops and their perfect mastery of security coverage over the national territory.
In the space of just one week, 1.8 tons of treated kif were seized, in addition to large quantities of cocaine and psychotropic drugs, demonstrating the existence of an organized narcotics trafficking network targeting the youth of the entire region. This reality necessitates the strengthening of regional cooperation to confront this phenomenon, which now represents a major security challenge, as emphasized by a number of experts and actors involved in the fight against this transnational international crime.
