This joint operation was carried out early this Friday, said a press release from the National Police (DGSN), noting that the precise information provided by the services of the DGST revealed the involvement of sailors operating on an inshore fishing boat in an attempt to smuggle several tons of chira, which required the coordination of efforts on the ground and the intervention of the patrols of the Maritime Royal Gendarmerie and the Royal Navy, who caught the boat at 54 km off Mehdia, in Kénitra.

The seven people arrested aboard this boat are suspected of having links with a criminal network active in international drug trafficking, while searches led to the seizure of dozens of bundles of drug weighing a total of around 7 tons of chira. The suspects tried to get rid of this cargo by throwing some of the drug bundles into the sea, said the DGSN.

The suspects were remanded in police custody at the disposal of the investigation carried out by the National Brigade of the Judicial Police under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor's office, to elucidate the ins and outs of this case and to determine its cross-border ramifications and possible links with international drug trafficking networks, according to the same source.

Searches are under way with a view to announcing all the results obtained after completion of the investigation conducted under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor's office, concluded the DGSN.