Foreign militias” smuggle Moroccan drugs to Israel across Algeria

More than 200 tons of drugs were seized in January-September, according to figures from the National Gendarmerie, Police, the National Popular Army forces and customs.

“The National Gendarmerie units seized 85.419 tons of drugs in January-September following the treatment of 2,669 cases and the arrest of 4,383 people. A total of 2,900 of them were put in temporary prison,” said Colonel Sayeh Bousif, chief of judicial police section at the National Gendarmerie commandment.

Chef superintendent Baaziz Laarass told Echorouk the police seized more than 50 tons of drugs in January-August.

Figures from mental health department at the health ministry show that more than 11,000 drug addicts were treated in Algeria in 2013. Of them, 4,770 were between 25 and 35, 4,338 are between 15 and 25 and 2,686 are more than 35.

According to the justice ministry, more than 23,000 people were sentenced in 2013 involved in drug cases. Of them, 130 were female all of them were between 18 and 55 years old.

Security reports showed that the drug quantities are smuggled by “militias” from neighboring countries across the Algerian borders. They are transported and protected until they are transmitted overseas.

The drugs which enter Algeria from Morocco to be smuggled to neighboring countries including Libya are the same which are smuggled to Egypt and Israel.