Algeria Targeted By Moroccan Drug Trafficking Networks

Algeria is targeted by networks specialized in smuggling and drug trafficking, according to Ms. Farida Dib, director of prevention at the National Office for Combating Drugs and Drug Addiction (ONDCA), noting that the largest quantities of these poisons are seized from Morocco, she said Monday in Algiers.

“Algeria is targeted by drug trafficking networks,“ said Dib, who was a guest of the National Radio’s Channel 1 Forum, adding that ‘the largest quantities, especially of Indian hemp, are seized in the western part of the country, such as Oran, Tlemcen, Bechar and Beni Abbas.’ The largest quantities are seized at the level of the western part of the country, such as Oran, Tlemcen, Bechar and Beni Abbes,” Ms. Dib asserted.

“Morocco, as the largest producer in the world, as witnessed by international bodies, hybridizes Indian hemp with other plants to obtain a more dangerous percentage,” she said.

In this context, she praised the instructions of President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune, during the government meeting with governors, to prepare a “multidimensional national strategy” to combat drugs and psychotropic substances and immunize youth from their dangers within the first three months of this year, which, she said, confirms “the state’s keenness to tackle the scourge that threatens our youth and the values of our society.”

She also recalled the tasks assigned to the office, which works in coordination with several ministerial sectors as well as civil society, calling on associations to “engage more in the national policy to combat the scourge of drugs by sensitizing and educating society about the dangers of drugs.”

“Algeria is targeted by specialized networks aiming to flood it with these poisons, especially from the western borders, as evidenced by the huge quantities seized daily by the various security services and the recent operation to destroy the seizures, which included more than ten tons of Indian hemp and processed kif, more than five quintals of hard drugs and more than 11 million tablets of various types of psychotropic substances, which confirm the gravity of this scourge and the great efforts made by the State to combat it,” said Mr. Ousama Benazza, Assistant Attorney General at the Court of Justice of Algiers.

He added that this global scourge is related to organized crime and is linked to other crimes such as money laundering, terrorism financing and trafficking in persons, and that Algeria, in cooperation with several countries, has developed mechanisms to address it internationally.

Algeria has developed a strong legal arsenal to tackle this phenomenon. Law 04-18 of December 25, 2004 is the main legal text and was recently amended by Law 23-05 of April 7, 2023 to enshrine the reality of the national strategy to combat drugs and psychotropic substances, which was ordered and called for by the President of the Republic on several occasions, as the legislator paid attention to the deterrent aspect, the preventive aspect and the care of addicts.

Regarding prevention and sensitization against the danger of these poisons, Farida Dib revealed that the National Office for Combating Drugs and Drug Addiction will work to prepare flashes and digital pedagogical supports to be broadcast through various digital media and social networks to raise awareness among youth and families and to prevent this scourge to enhance deterrence efforts and care for addicts.