RABAT – Moroccan customs authorities on Thursday incinerated 9.5 tonnes of cannabis resin in a suburb of Casablanca, official media reported, days after record hashish hauls in neighbouring Spain.
The drugs, which were seized in two separate operations last year by customs authorities at Casablanca port, were burned in the presence of government officials, police and members of the royal gendarmerie, the MAP news agency reported.
The first bust was made in June during the inspection of a truck bound for Belgium and found more than 5.7 tonnes of cannabis resin, or “chira” as it is known locally, divided into 10 kilo packages and hidden in hundreds of boxes.
The second operation a month later intercepted 3.78 tons of chira hidden in a truck carrying tiles from Fez to the Belgian port city of Antwerp.
Late last month, Spanish police found 32 tonnes of the drug in a truck carrying melons from Morocco.
Then on Monday, the same police force announced that they had seized 52 tonnes of hashish in an industrial warehouse in the southern Spanish city of Cordoba, setting a European record.