Merad: “Morocco is targeting Algeria with its narcotics poison, designed to affect its security and youth”

The Minister of Interior, Local Assemblies and Country Planning, Brahim Merad said in Algiers that Algeria was facing a drug war which requires the mobilization of all means.
During a visit to the headquarters of the Central Authority for Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking in Algiers on Saturday, accompanied by the Director General of National Security, Farid Bencheikh, Brahim Merad made it clear that the services of the province are waging a fierce war to thwart these hostile plans, especially those led by the western neighbor with reference to the Moroccan Makhzen regime.
The minister said that “Algeria is targeted through drugs and faces a war waged by its western neighbor,” stressing the need to “confront this war with all means, through the association of all sectors and specialised bodies as well as civil society.
Mr Merad hailed, on this occasion, “the colossal efforts of the National People’s Army and the various security bodies in the fight against this phenomenon and the protection of our borders from all forms of crime.
Answering a question on the measures taken by his services to fight against the phenomenon of drug use and trafficking and the means of taking care of drug addicts, especially young people, Merad explained that the efforts of the national security services “have led to the elucidation of 32742 cases during the first quarter of the current year involving 37352 individuals”.
These cases, he said, resulted in the seizure of 2.5 tonnes of cannabis and 17 kg of cocaine and nearly one (1) kg of heroin as well as 3.5 million psychotropic tablets.
The same services have cleared in 2022, a total of 85538 cases related to drug crimes involving 97863 individuals, the majority of whom are young people, resulting in the seizure of 5 tons of cannabis, 22 kg of cocaine, 8.5 kg of heroin and more than 7 million different psychotropic tablets, the minister said.
For the minister, this “heavy and growing” balance sheet attests to the efforts made by the National Security in coordination with the Interior services and the various security bodies in the fight against the various forms of drug-related crime, and is also proof of the availability and vigilance of state institutions in the fight against this scourge.
Concerning the measures taken in this framework, the minister stated that his services in coordination with the various sectors concerned “have developed a comprehensive and balanced national strategy, aimed primarily at stemming the flow of drugs, while working to reduce demand with the guarantee of effective care of drug addicts in terms of treatment and social integration, under the supervision of a working group specialized in the prevention of this phenomenon, whose results have been examined at the level of the APN.