VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #2280/01 3521126
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181126Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5393
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UNCLAS RABAT 002280 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, INL;PARIS FOR DEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PGOV MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO'S 2006-2007 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS 
CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) PART 1, DRUGS AND CHEMICAL 
CONTROLS 
 
REF: STATE 154898 
 
¶I. Summary 
 
¶1.  Morocco achieved significant reductions in cannabis 
production and cultivation, although it remains one of the 
world's major producers and exporters of cannabis.  According 
to the Agency for the Promotion of Economic and Social 
Development of the Northern Prefectures and Provinces of the 
Kingdom of Morocco (APDN), Morocco produced an estimated 
53,400 metric tons (MT) of cannabis in 2005, representing a 
significant decrease from 2004 when it produced 98,000 MT. 
According to the 2005 combined study on cannabis conducted by 
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and 
Morocco's (APDN), Morocco's gross cannabis production in 2005 
provided for potential cannabis resin (hashish) production of 
1,067 MT the study noted.  According to the UNODC report, 
Morocco in 2005 succeeded in decreasing by 40 percent its 
land dedicated to cannabis cultivation to 72,500 hectares, 
down from 120,500 hectares in 2004, due in part to an 
aggressive Government of Morocco (GOM) eradication campaign. 
The UNODC study also states that approximately 800,000 
Moroccans (2.5 percent of the country's estimated 2004 
population) were involved in cannabis cultivation.  Morocco's 
efforts to combat cannabis cultivation are made more 
difficult by limited short-term alternatives for those 
involved in its production.  Available information continues 
to indicate the United States is not a major recipient of 
drugs from Morocco.  Morocco is a party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention. 
 
¶2.  In 2006, the GOM in addition to its efforts against 
production, acted against drug-related corruption.  In 
September, a GOM investigation into the network of a major 
drug baron arrested in the north resulted in the arrest of 
more than a dozen high-ranking government, judicial, 
military, and law enforcement officials linked to 
narcotics-related corruption. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
¶3.  Morocco consistently ranks among the world's largest 
producers and exporters of cannabis, and its cultivation and 
sale provide the economic base for much of the mountainous 
northern region of Morocco.  Only very small amounts of 
narcotics produced in or transiting through Morocco reach the 
United States.  According to a 2005 UNODC report, the illicit 
trade in Moroccan cannabis resin generates approximately $13 
billion a year in total revenues, but Morocco retains only a 
small share (approximately $325 million) of total turnover 
from the cannabis trade.  Independent estimates indicate that 
the returns from cannabis cultivation range from 
$16,400-$29,800 per hectare (little of which goes to the 
growers themselves), compared with an average of $1,000 per 
hectare for one possible alternative, corn.  EU law 
enforcement officials report that Moroccan cannabis is 
typically processed into cannabis resin or oil and exported 
predominately to Europe, as well as Algeria, and Tunisia.  To 
date, Morocco has no enterprises that use dual-use precursor 
chemicals, and is thus neither a source nor transit point for 
them.  While there continues to be a small but growing 
domestic market for harder drugs like heroin and cocaine, 
cannabis remains the most widely used illicit drug in 
Morocco.  There is no substantial evidence of widespread 
trafficking in heroin or cocaine, but press reports suggest 
Latin American cocaine traffickers may have started using 
well-established cannabis smuggling routes to move cocaine 
into Europe. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs 
 
¶4.  Policy Initiatives:  The GOM's partnership with UNODC in 
conducting cannabis surveys the past three years (2005, 2004, 
2003) reflects Morocco's growing desire to compile accurate 
data on narcotics production and address its narcotics 
problem.  Morocco is one of the only countries to publish 
scientific estimates of cannabis cultivation within its 
borders.  In 2004, Morocco launched an awareness campaign for 
cannabis growers alerting them to the adverse effects of 
 
 
cannabis cultivation for the land and informing them of 
alternatives to use the land more productively. 
 
¶5.  Throughout the 1980's, the GOM worked in conjunction with 
the UN to devise a response to the unique geographic, 
cultural and economic circumstances that confront the many 
people involved in the cultivation of cannabis in northern 
Morocco.  Joint projects to encourage cultivation of 
alternative agricultural products included providing goats 
for dairy farming, apple trees, and small bee-keeping 
initiatives.  This effort also included paved roads, modern 
irrigation networks, and health and veterinary clinics.  In 
the 1990,s, the GOM continued to focus on development 
alternatives in Morocco's northern provinces through the work 
of APDN and the Tangier Mediterranean Special Agency (TMSA). 
In June 2003, TMSA oversaw the groundbreaking of the 
centerpiece of its northern development program, the 
Tanger-MED port, which is set to become Morocco's primary 
maritime gateway to the world.  To study the viability of 
medicinal plant substitution the GOM selected Taounate, a 
cannabis producing province, as the site for the construction 
of the National Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 
(INPMA). 
 
¶6.  Law Enforcement Efforts:  According to government 
statistics, Morocco in 2005 seized 116 tons of cannabis, down 
from the previous year's total of 318 tons.   Seizures, 
however, were up for cocaine, heroin, and psychoactive drugs 
during the same period. 
 
¶7.  Since 1995, the GOM reports it has detailed up to 10,000 
police personnel into the North and Rif mountains to 
interdict drug traffic and to maintain narcotics checkpoints, 
rotating personnel approximately every six months.  Moroccan 
forces also staff observation posts along the Mediterranean 
coast, and the Moroccan Navy carries out routine sea patrols 
and responds to information developed by the observation 
posts.  These efforts, however, have not changed the 
underlying reality of extensive cannabis cultivation and 
trafficking in northern Morocco.  Morocco and France agreed 
in 2004 to reinforce bilateral counternarcotics cooperation 
by deploying liaison officers to Tangiers and France.  During 
the past several years, according to both Moroccan and French 
police sources, controlled deliveries of drugs has proven to 
be a very successful interdiction technique. 
 
¶8.  The GOM in 2005 destroyed more than 7,000 hectares of 
cannabis, primarily in Larache and Taounate Provinces.  As 
part of its 2006 eradication campaign, which targeted more 
than 15,000 hectares, the GOM claims to have completely 
eliminated cannabis production in Larache province.  Morocco 
has laws providing a maximum allowable prison sentence for 
drug offenses of 30 years, as well as fines for narcotics 
violations ranging from $20,000-$80,000.  Ten to fifteen 
years' imprisonment remains the typical sentence for major 
drug traffickers convicted in Morocco.  In 2004, Morocco 
claims to have arrested 22,526 Moroccan nationals and 356 
foreigners in connection with drug-related offenses. 
 
¶9.  Corruption:  The GOM does not promote drug production or 
trafficking as a matter of policy.  In September, a GOM 
investigation into the network of a major drug baron resulted 
in the arrest of more than a dozen high-ranking government, 
judicial, military, and law enforcement officials linked to 
narcotics-related corruption, including a senior security 
official and former chief of police in Tangier.  This 
investigation, as part of a larger government effort to 
combat corruption, led to further high-level shake ups in the 
law enforcement community, as well as the detention of other 
alleged drug traffickers.  Although this investigation 
continues, the trials of some of the arrested individuals 
were moving forward.  Morocco has signed, but has not yet 
ratified, the UN Convention Against Corruption. 
 
¶10.  Agreements and Treaties:   Morocco is a party to the 
1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on 
Psychotropic Substances and the 1961 UN Single Convention on 
Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol.  Morocco is 
a party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized 
 
 
Crime. 
 
¶11.  Cultivation/Production:   The center of cannabis 
production continues to be the province of Chefchaouen, where 
56 percent of Morocco's cannabis is cultivated.  Production, 
however, has expanded north in the last two decades to the 
outskirts of Tangiers and east toward Al Hoceima.  According 
to the UNODC report, small farmers in the northern Rif region 
grow mostly cannabis, where an estimated 27 percent of arable 
land is dedicated to its cultivation.  Production also occurs 
on a smaller scale in the Souss valley in the south.  The 
2005 UNODC survey found that 75 percent of villages and 
96,000 farms in the Rif region cultivate cannabis, 
representing 6.5 percent of all farms in Morocco. 
 
¶12.   The GOM has stated its commitment to the total 
eradication of cannabis production, but given the economic 
and historical dependence on cannabis in the northern region, 
eradication is only feasible if accompanied by a 
well-designed development strategy involving reform of local 
government and a highly subsidized crop substitution program. 
 Moroccan drug officials have indicated that crop 
substitution programs thus far appear to have made little 
headway in providing economic alternatives to cannabis 
production.  An UNODC report warned that this agricultural 
monoculture represents an extreme danger to the ecosystem due 
to the extensive use of fertilizers.  Moreover, forest 
removal continues to be the method of choice to make room for 
cannabis cultivation. 
 
¶13.  Drug Flow/Transit: The primary ports of export for 
Moroccan cannabis are Oued Lalou, Martil and Bou Ahmed on the 
Mediterranean coast.  Most large shipments bound for Spain 
travel via fishing vessels or private yachts.  Smaller 
&zodiac8 speedboats, which can make roundtrips to Spain in 
one hour, are reportedly being used to transport drugs.  Drug 
shipments of up to two tons have been seized on these boats. 
Smugglers also continue to transport cannabis via truck and 
car through the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, and 
the Moroccan port of Tangiers, crossing the Straits of 
Gibraltar by ferry.  According to the UNODC, Spain still 
accounts for the world's largest portion of cannabis resin 
seizures (54 percent of global seizures in 2004).  The 
Moroccan press reported that some 800 tons of Moroccan 
cannabis resin were seized in Spain in 2004.  Given its 
proximity to Morocco, Spain is a key transfer point for 
Europe-bound Moroccan cannabis resin.  Due to the Schengen 
zone, once contraband reaches Spain it can pass unchecked to 
most of Western Europe. 
 
¶14.  Domestic Programs:  The GOM is concerned about signs of 
an increase in domestic heroin and cocaine use, but does not 
aggressively promote reduction in domestic demand for these 
drugs or for cannabis.  It has established a program to train 
the staffs of psychiatric hospitals in the treatment of drug 
addiction.  In partnership with UNODC, the Ministry of Health 
is exploring the relationship between drug use and HIV/AIDS 
infection in Morocco.  Moroccan civil society and some 
schools are active in promoting counter-narcotics use 
campaigns. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
¶15.  U.S. Policy Initiatives:  U.S. policy goals in Morocco 
are to enhance Morocco's counter narcotics capability through 
training in law enforcement techniques and to promote the 
GOM's adherence to its obligations under relevant bilateral 
and international agreements.  U.S.-supported efforts to 
strengthen anti-money laundering laws and efforts against 
terrorist financing may also contribute to the GOM,s ability 
to monitor the flow of money from the cannabis trade. 
 
¶16.  Bilateral Cooperation:  According to Moroccan narcotics 
officials, USG-provided border security equipment, 
particularly new scanners in main ports, improved the 
effectiveness of security measures at entry points, which 
directly contributed to increased drug seizures in 2004. 
Morocco and the U.S. have also begun to expand cooperation on 
drug investigations of mutual interest. The Drug Enforcement 
 
 
Administration (DEA), which covers Morocco from its Paris 
office, has enhanced its engagement with the Moroccan 
National Police, including discussing ways to increase 
training visits to the US by Moroccan narcotics officials and 
by US officials to Morocco.  In September 2005, the U.S. 
Coast Guard sent a Mobile Training Team to provide training 
in maritime law enforcement boarding procedures. 
 
¶17.  Road Ahead:  The United States will continue to monitor 
the narcotics situation in Morocco, cooperate with the GOM in 
its counter-narcotics efforts, and, together with the EU, 
provide law enforcement training, intelligence, and other 
support where possible. 
 
****************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
****************************************** 
 
Riley