72 persons imprisoned in Algeria for smuggling drugs

An Algerian court issued a prison sentence of between 10 and 20 years against 72 persons who were accused in an international drug smuggling case that was frustrated in 1999 by the Algerian and the French police, as a guard at Oran harbor informed the authorities of an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of drugs on the French ship "Zeralda," and the security forces arrested the smugglers easily.

The western Algerian states are suffering from an increase in drug smuggling operations, and the Algerian security forces arrest from time to time the accused smugglers.