Forest 33 case: six gendarmes detained over links with drug traffickers
Six gendarmes have been held in detention in Tamesna and Salé following confessions by drug barons in the so-called "Forest 33" case near Benslimane.
Six gendarmes incarcerated in the "Forest 33" case near Benslimane
Six gendarmes were held in detention early this week in the barracks of Tamesna, near Temara, and Dar As-Sikkah in Salé, according to fr.le360.ma citing the daily Assabah in its Thursday 12 November edition. Their arrest comes as part of a broadening of investigations into the "Forest 33" case near Benslimane.
The Royal Gendarmerie's National Judicial Police Brigade proceeded with these arrests after drug barons named these military personnel and described the relationships they maintained with them. Investigations targeting two gendarmes from the Bouznika brigade were opened on instructions from the prosecutor general of the king at the Casablanca Court of Appeal, following the results of technical forensic examinations.
Confessions from persons arrested for drug trafficking, as well as for possession and unauthorised use of firearms in the context of homicide, also weighed in the balance. According to these statements, elements from the brigade allegedly facilitated the distribution of narcotics to consumers in exchange for payment.
Investigators confronted the detained gendarmes with technical forensic evidence, their communications and records of their movements over recent months, particularly during summer. Among those detained is a gendarme assigned to the training centre in Benslimane, after having served in the Bouznika district, who is also suspected of drug consumption.
According to Assabah, one of the barons acknowledged dealing with two gendarmes without knowing their names. Investigators are considering presenting photographs of the suspects to already-detained traffickers to facilitate their identification before concluding the preliminary phase.
The investigations are also extending to several traffickers from the Jbala region near Ouezzane. The main suspect, designated as the most dangerous member of the network, is implicated in the shooting deaths of two young men whose bodies had been discovered early the previous week.
He was apprehended at Douar Ouled Ali in the municipality of Ounana, Ouezzane province, where he had taken refuge in a mountainous area. The operation mobilised joint forces from the Royal Gendarmerie's and National Police's national judicial police brigades, supported by reconnaissance drones and police dogs, under the supervision of the regional gendarmerie commander in Tétouan and the provincial commander of Ouezzane.
Assabah emphasises that the investigation could extend to gendarmerie officials in the Bouznika district, "including centre commanders".
Source: Google News MA — Crime (fr)