trade
David Sharrock in Tangier
Ask any teenage northern Moroccan male what his future will be and he will tell you he has three options: to escape across the sea to Europe; become a contraband dealer; or get into the hashish trade and end up either rich or in prison.
Mohamed, who has tried all three, is the perfect guide to Morocco’s “green gold” hashish economy.
We drive north out of Tangier along the coast before turning inland into the foothills of the Rif mountains. At Oued Alian 50 fishermen are crowded around a small catch, haggling over prices. “This is one of the most important places for sending the hashish across to Spain,” says Mohamed, gesturing towards the windsurfers’ paradise- town of Tarifa across the strait.
“It’s like a river – very easy to cross. Of course, it’s easy to get caught too, if you don’t pay the baksheesh [gratuity] or if the government’s wanting to clean up. Most of the big dealers are in prison now but there’s a new generation making themselves rich.”
Under pressure from the European Union, in particular Spain, the Moroccan authorities have cracked down on the kif [hashish] market, but with mixed results. The offensive began six years ago, when 10 000 troops were stationed on the northern coast to patrol trafficking routes.
Tangier became the focus of police work and a number of drug barons were jailed. The people of Tangier say the crackdown was too harsh.
“They have squeezed the life out of Tangier, there’s no trickle-down effect any more from the hashish trade and every sector has suffered,” laments one ex-pat. Cynics note that not all the Mister Bigs were rounded up; some suggest that politicians’ names were linked to the investigations.
The authorities admit that about 69 000ha of land in the Rif region are under cannabis cultivation; unofficial statistics put the figure even higher.
“Five years ago you had to drive right into the Rif to see the plantations,” says Mohamed. “Now it’s coming closer to Tangier all the time. It was within 40km last year.”
The October harvest was a bumper crop, yielding about 30 tons of cannabis. It is a tricky problem to solve, because the government’s grip on the rebellious Berber people of the north has never been absolute.
Attempts to promote alternative cash crops have produced few results. Cannabis fetches 10 times the price of wheat. “Without kif we would starve,” says Mohamed.
Production is therefore quietly tolerated while the authorities go after the dealers. Three-quarters of the cannabis grown in the Rif is destined for Europe. The Moroccans claim to have broken about 30 drug networks in 1996-97, arresting 34 Britons, 126 Spaniards, 59 French and 25 Dutch. Those captured were mostly couriers rather than the drug chiefs.
In a sinister development last year, six tons of cocaine washed up on Morocco’s shores. A Spanish-registered vessel sailing out of Southampton had dumped its cargo after engine failure forced the Colombian crew to shelter in Moroccan waters.
The Moroccans used the incident to support their contention that the drugs trade is international and that Europe should not blame Morocco for all its drug problems.
“We are left to police Europe’s southern shores alone,” a government official said. “European aid to combat drugs in north Morocco is feeble, if not non-existent.”