Mass drugs trial in Morocco
87 people, including members of security forces, sentenced to up to ten years in prison.
CASABLANCA - Nearly 90 people, including many members of the security forces, were sentenced Friday in Morocco to jail terms for drug trafficking, a judicial official said.
The court in Casablanca, northern Morocco, handed down prison sentences of between three months and 10 years to most of the 87 accused, who included 32 civilians and 55 members of the navy, police, army and auxiliary forces, the source said.
Four of the defendants were acquitted.
The defendants in the mass trial had faced justice since February 2009 for "the constitution of a criminal association, drug trafficking, corruption and the failure to denounce crimes", according to the charge sheet.
The criminal network, which was dismantled on January 13, 2009, according to the interior ministry, operated in the northern Nador region and exported more than 30 tonnes of cannabis resin to Europe over several years.