A French drug trafficker, involved in an international network and wanted by Interpol, was arrested Friday in Casablanca, Morocco, we learned Tuesday from the Moroccan police.
"A French citizen of Algerian origin who was the subject of a red notice issued by Interpol was arrested at Mohammed V airport in Casablanca
," said the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN).
The man - whose identity has not been revealed by the DGSN - was arrested
"for his links with a criminal network of international trafficking in hard drugs between Belgium, France and the Netherlands"
, specifies the press release, without further details.
According to Moroccan media, it is "Noureddine B.", a drug baron on the run for several years.
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The Interpol red notice was issued last April at the request of the French judicial authorities for criminal association and drug trafficking, specifies the information site Le Desk, citing an authorized source within the DGSN.
Described as a
“big fish”
in drug trafficking, the 33-year-old suspect is believed to be involved in several heroin and cocaine trafficking operations between France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
His extradition in the hands of Morocco
His name reappeared recently as a sponsor during a police anti-drug operation in the Orleans region, near Paris, where he is from, Moroccan media report.
In 2018, this man was involved in a case of importing 200 kilos of cocaine into the port of Le Havre (north-west).
He reappeared in 2019 in a story of importing narcotics to Grenoble (south-east) by "go fast" from the Maghreb via Spain.
On the run, he was then arrested in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, in June 2020. His trace had since been lost.
According to the usual procedure, the Moroccan justice should decide soon on his extradition.
Last October, one of the big French drug barons, Sophiane Hambli, 46 years old and of Algerian origin, was arrested in a clinic in Tangier (northern Morocco).
