Criminal network busted in Morocco, 4 held

Moroccan authorities dismantled a criminal network composed of four persons in the cities of Tangiers and Oujda, the Interior Ministry said.

A member of this network is wanted for international drug trafficking while two others are former convicts in terrorism-related cases, the ministry said in a statement, MAP news agency reported on Saturday.

One of these former detainees had links with extremists abroad while the second one fought in Iraq and Syria in the ranks of an extremist group which had planned terrorist attacks in the kingdom, the statement added.

The fourth member of this network was transferred from Belgium to Morocco in 2014 after serving a prison sentence for kidnapping, murder and drug trafficking.

The members of this network abducted a man in Tangiers after having taken possession of his car that they intended to sell, before it was seized by security personnel.

This security operation provides information on close links between terrorist organisations and organised crime networks, which are one of the main sources of terrorist funding, the statement said.

The members of this network will be brought to justice pending the completion of the investigation led under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor's office, it added.

--IANS

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