Moroccan police have dismantled a drug-trafficking attempt in the northern city of Fez, arresting a married couple found in possession of more than 4,400 narcotic pills just minutes after they stepped off a train from Tangier.
The operation was carried out overnight between Monday and Tuesday by officers from Fez’s anti-gang brigade, working in coordination with the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), Morocco’s domestic intelligence service. Officers were waiting at the city’s main railway station when the couple arrived, having apparently used the rail line connecting Morocco’s northern coast to the interior to move their cargo.
A search of the suspects turned up 3,024 ecstasy tablets and 1,400 units of Rivotril, a powerful sedative frequently diverted for illegal use, bringing the total haul to 4,424 pills. Investigators also seized a sum of cash believed to be proceeds from drug sales, according to details released by police.
The couple has been placed in custody and is now the subject of a judicial investigation supervised by the competent public prosecutor’s office. Authorities say the goal is to establish the full circumstances of the case, trace the origin of the seized substances, and determine whether the pair were acting alone or as part of a wider trafficking network operating across the region.
Fez’s railway station, a key transit point between Morocco’s northern ports and its interior cities, has featured in several similar seizures in recent years, as traffickers increasingly exploit passenger rail lines to move synthetic drugs discreetly among ordinary travelers. Moroccan security services have stepped up checks on this corridor as part of a broader campaign against narcotics trafficking, which officials say disproportionately targets young people.
The investigation continues, with police seeking to identify any additional suspects and to map out the broader supply chain believed to be behind the shipment uncovered at the Fez station.
