Algerian official: The price of the Moroccan cannabis is nearing cigarettes’ pack

Coinciding with the G8 meeting in Paris, France, over the issue of the fight against drug trafficking, the Director General of the Drug Enforcement Office Abdelmalek Sayeh has dwelt in a wide -ranging interview with Echouoruk on this phenomenon.

• Echourouk: First of all, could you give us the figures of this year’s seizures?

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• Sayeh: We had seized nearly 17 tons of Moroccan cannabis, 6.1 Kg of cocaine and 1.1 Kg of heroine.

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• Echourouk: We are edging to the same quantities of Moroccan cannabis seized last year in only four months isn’t it?

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• Sayeh: That’s true.

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• Echourouk: Why?

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• Sayeh: Most of the quantities of Moroccan cannabis that have been seized over the last years were registered through the south west passages, but the Algerian security forces have intensified their interventions and tightened the net around the smugglers causing a drastic slump to the networks’ activities. But the traffickers have resumed their activities in this strategic area.

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• Echourouk:: How can we track down drug trafficking through Mali?

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• Sayeh:This issue requires a close and all-out coordination between the different security bodies, banks and other financial institutions. This reminds me of the case of the seizure of 1 ton of cocaine smuggled through Spain towards Algeria in 2006, the main culprit was smuggling drug under cover of medical equipment imports.

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• Echourouk:: A French naval force has seized a load of cocaine nearby Guinea Bissau shores heading for Algeria, the French authorities have indicated that it was the biggest quantity ever seized?

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• Sayeh: We don’t have any clue about the issue, the only information we had came from a UN report based on French data over an operation carried out by the French forces in 2008 culminated with the seizure of 3 tons of cocaine purportedly heading for Algeria.

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• Echourouk: Doest it mean the international cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking didn’t live up to the expectations?

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• Sayeh: All I can say is that the cooperation in the operation of the seizure of 1 ton of cocaine in Spain, was a model of good collaboration between the two countries at all levels.

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• Echourouk: Moroccan authorities accuse you personally of exaggerating the threat of cannabis smuggling?

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• Sayeh: UN reports and figures are there to consolidate my view over the danger of this phenomenon.

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