Three fugitive Antwerp drug traffickers sentenced in Marrakech for money laundering and organised crime
A Moroccan court has sentenced three drug traffickers from Antwerp who were on the run to sentences ranging from 5 to 9 years. A further hearing is expected in September.
Sentences of 5 to 9 years for three fugitive Antwerp men tried in Marrakech
A Marrakech court condemned three Belgian-Moroccan nationals wanted for drug trafficking to sentences ranging from five to nine years in prison on Thursday, according to Google News MA — Crime (fr) citing information from Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad.
The three men, arrested in Marrakech in June after several years on the run, were unexpectedly transferred from their place of detention to the courtroom that day, accompanied by several French and Dutch nationals. The proceedings concluded the same day: Abdelilah "Black" El Messaoudi, 42, received five years in prison; Mohamed "Kikker" Benhaddou, 47, eight years; and Moraad "Glamourboy" El Kasmi, 35, nine years. The other defendants also reportedly received prison sentences.
These convictions are unrelated to sentences handed down in Belgium or international arrest warrants issued against them. The Moroccan justice system investigated offences committed on national territory, notably suspicions of money laundering and membership of a criminal organisation. Sources close to the accused indicated that they intended to appeal.
The judicial record of the three men in Belgium is substantial. El Messaoudi has accumulated 34 years of convictions in Antwerp for cocaine trafficking. El Kasmi was sentenced to 52 months in the "Makreel" drugs case. Benhaddou, for his part, must serve more than seven years for drug trafficking and money laundering carried out through his former brewery, the Dikke Mee.
According to Het Nieuwsblad, Thursday's hearing did not settle the question of what would happen to the Belgian convictions: Morocco could either take on the sentences handed down in Belgium or initiate new separate proceedings. The suspects' files are reported to have already been transmitted to the Moroccan authorities. A further hearing is expected in September to clarify this point.
Source: Google News MA — Crime (fr)