Moroccan Court Imposes Heavy Fines and Asset Seizures in 'Sahara Escobar' Case

A Moroccan court has levied substantial financial penalties against numerous individuals, including former Oriental region president Abdelnabi Biyoui, in a case dubbed "The Sahara Escobar." The Casablanca Court of Appeal's criminal chamber issued fines ranging from 1,000 dirhams to over 1.288 billion dirhams, targeting defendants involved in alleged drug trafficking and illegal gold dealings.

Abdelnabi Biyoui was fined 150,000 dirhams. Other defendants, including "Abdelrahim.B," "Larbi.T," and "Ismail.M," received fines of 250,000 dirhams each. Several others, such as "Allal.H," "Ahmed.H," "Slimane.H," "Abdelkader.A," "Abdelkader.B," and "Jamal.M," were each fined 700,000 dirhams. A notary, "Salima.B," and businessman "Fouad.Y" were fined 120,000 dirhams each.

Penalties were also imposed for drug trafficking. "Abdelkader.A," "Jamal.M," "Allal.H," "Slimane.H," and "Abdelkader.B" were jointly fined 1,550,000 dirhams related to 77.5 kilograms of hashish. For 40 tons of hashish, Biyoui, Said Naciri, "Belkacem.M," "Laïti.A," and "Ismail.M" were jointly fined 800 million dirhams. A staggering 4 billion dirhams fine was imposed on Biyoui, "Abdelrahim.B," "Laïti.A," "Allal.H," "Belkacem.M," and "Ismail.L" for 200 tons of hashish.

Furthermore, the court ordered the confiscation of assets from Biyoui, "Abdelrahim.B," Said Naciri, "Belkacem.M," "Larbi.T," and "Ismail.B." Biyoui's assets were seized up to 10 million dirhams, while Naciri's were seized up to 6 million dirhams. The court also mandated that Biyoui, Naciri, and "Belkacem.M" jointly pay 1 million dirhams to the civil claimant, identified as "Haj Ahmed Ben Ibrahim," also known as "The Sahara Escobar."