Moroccan gendarmes seized more than three tonnes of cocaine off the coast of Tarfaya after intercepting inflatable boats carrying the shipment toward shore. The Morocco cocaine seizure ranks among the largest recorded in the area in recent years.
The operation was carried out by the Royal Gendarmerie’s regional command in Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra, following intelligence work and close monitoring of suspicious movements at sea, according to the sources.
How the Operation Unfolded
Investigators tracked inflatable boats that had received the cocaine from a commercial vessel offshore, before the boats attempted to transport the shipment to the Moroccan coast as part of what officials describe as an international trafficking operation. Royal Gendarmerie units intercepted the boats at sea before they reached land, seizing the entire shipment, which weighed more than three tonnes.
The operation is one of the largest recent cocaine seizures recorded off Tarfaya and comes as Moroccan security services step up surveillance along the country’s Atlantic coastline to counter transnational organised crime networks. The seizure also highlights the growing use of maritime transfer operations, in which larger vessels hand off drug shipments to smaller boats capable of approaching the coast more discreetly.
Investigation Opened Into Trafficking Network
Acting on instructions from the competent prosecutor’s office, the Royal Gendarmerie has opened a judicial investigation to identify everyone involved in the operation and determine the network’s possible connections inside Morocco and abroad.
Investigators are also expected to establish the origin of the shipment, its intended destination, and whether local accomplices were preparing to receive and distribute the drugs once they reached shore.
Part of Broader Coastal Security Efforts
The operation forms part of ongoing efforts by Moroccan authorities to strengthen maritime border surveillance and disrupt international cocaine trafficking routes operating along the Atlantic coast.
