Drugs network dismantled in Algeria

A criminal court in the province of Chelf (west of Algiers) sentenced nine people to life in prison and a man to six months on Sunday on charges of forming an international network specialised in cultivating cannabis in neighbouring Morocco.

• The suspects turned the cannabis into drugs and distributed them in various parts of Algeria.
• The National Gendarmerie forces smashed the network in late April last year after they discovered a car wash turned into a big garage to store drugs.
• Investigations led to the seizure of  116 kg of drugs at one of the suspects’ house.
•  The National Gendarmerie later arrested the rest of the culprits involved in this smuggling ring.
• They admitted that they were part of an international  drug smuggling network. They said they used to rent lands in the Moroccan border town of Oudjda and cultivate cannabis.