Global Ganja Report

Morocco's Royal Gendarmerie announced the seizure and incineration of 5.8 tons of "chira" or cannabis in the southeastern province of Errachidia this month. Last December, Moroccan authorities seized nearly 10 tons of cannabis in the same region and arrested six suspected members of an international trafficking network—three Malians, two Moroccans and one Algerian.

Nearly 90 people, including many members of the security forces, were sentenced in Morocco to prison terms for cannabis trafficking on March 5. The court in Casablanca handed down sentences of between three months and 10 years to most of the 87 defendants, who included 55 members of the navy, police, army and auxiliary forces. Four of the defendants were acquitted. The network, which was dismantled in a series of busts in January 2009, operated in the northern Nador region and exported more than 30 tons of hashish to Europe over several years. (Middle East  Online, March 5)