Morocco: The Fight Against the Spread of Hashish is Not Yet Over

 Mamadou, L’Bob, Larbi, Z’roki, Sh’homat, Rasta, Drori, Selham, L’hadj, Mi Zina, Nouass, Marquize ... All these are names, or let us say nicknames of some drug dealers in the city of Casablanca, the economic capital of Morocco where a drug dealer is called BEZNAZ. this term was taken to Casablanca’s colloquial speech from the English word "Businessman". Beznaz is a hashish retailer. His retails usually start from 10 to 700 MAD (approximately from 1 to 70 Euro), depending on the quality as well as the quantity.

  The Moroccan saying "Add water, add flour" explains the relation between the hashish retailer and his customers, meaning The more money you pay, the better quality you’ll get. And the good quality of hashish has its own names in Casablanca and Morocco as a whole. For exemple, La double zero, t’bisla, Rezina, Nogaa, La quinze, bellota, frimija... etc. As the case for the low quality that is called, in most of the cases ferchakha, which is a poor quality of hashish that is already mixed with different kinds of chemicals.

  The hashish retailer, in Casablanca, can be found in every neighborhood, where he usually lives. Most of the time he is known by the neighbors, shops owners, guardians and even the children. Yet, a simple question should be asked here: do local iauthorities aware of the existence and the practices of such retailers? The answer to this question might be yes; in this case the BEZNAZ can be (Chari souk) as it is said in Moroccan Arabic, meaning that he pays money for remaining allowed to practice his or her activities, within a certain area.

  While preparing this article, my curiosity has guided me to the Old Medina of Casablanca, a place situated in the heart of the city, where I have been told that several small drug dealers are practicing their activities there. Once I have crossed the gate of the Old Medina that is called Bab-Marrakech, I have come across a police station, and just after few meters, I have noticed those drug dealers Beznaza, they may call anyone passing from there to go buy their products (hashish, Kiff, nefha, alcohol, hallucinogenic pills...)

 In fact, most of the investigative TV programs which have been carried out about those small drug dealers (BEZNAZA) or even the farmers of cannabis in the north of Morocco show that this category of people does not benefit a lot from such activities. And, they insist on the fact that there are other sides which usually take over the maximum profit of such business. Those sides are mainly international drug smuggling networks.

  In February 2009, and for the first time in Morocco, the Moroccan Court of appeal-Casablanca convicted 109 people, charged of arranging a criminal group, international drug trafficking, bribery and failure to report a crime. Among them, there were 33 civilians, 29 members of The Moroccan Royal Navy, 19 of the Royal Gendarmerie, 27 of the Auxiliary Forces, and one element of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR). Besides, a previous conviction in 2006 was that of Mr. Abdelaziz Izou, the chief security of the royal palaces.

  According to the General Administration of National Security, the size of the quantities of drugs seized since the beginning of this year until the beginning of March is about 30 tons. In the last year, the amount of confiscated cannabis reached 60 tons and 278 kg, compared to 65 tons and 14 kg in 2007.

  On the other hand, it has been decided to continue efforts to reduce the farming of cannabis during this year, especially in cities like Chefchaouen and Al Hoceima. Thus, the government may possibly make the total area under cultivation, less than 50 thousand hectares.

 In the same context, Mr. Abbas El Fassi, the Moroccan prime minister, in an exclusive interview broadcasted on 2M TV on April, 15, 2009 said: "to help those farmers of cannabis stop their activities, the government gives them a sheep and some olive’s trees so they can make a kind of alternative cultivation instead of cannabis. The question is: how can a sheep and some olives help Morocco get rid of hashish?