El Pais: Morocco denies rise of cannabis culture

Moroccan Interior Minister, Al Mostafa Sahel, has categorically denied allegations that cannabis culture has grown in Morocco in the latest years.

In an interview published Monday by the Spanish daily "El Pais," Sahel said "security forces are strongly fighting drug dealers." In 2003, he noted, 23,000 persons were arrested and 69 tons of cannabis plants and 96 tons of resin have been seized."

He said investigations in cases like "Erramach" o "Jeblia," that revealed the involvement of elements of security forces and magistrates, show that nobody is above law.

About the relation between terrorists and drug trafficking networks, Sahel pointed out that "terrorists seek money wherever they find them," hailing the Moroccan-Spanish cooperation in this question.

The minister also raised in the interview the problem of illegal migration, voicing satisfaction at the results reached this year in the fight of this phenomenon. He said, nevertheless, these efforts will not yield fruit if Europe does not set up a legal framework for immigration.

The minister said 36,344 would-be immigrants were arrested in 2003, that is a rise 16 percent compared to the number registered the previous year. He added that 20.000 others were arrested in the first 8 months of 2004.