Drugs and Weapons are destabilizing Algeria
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With a length of nearly 400 kilometers, the border between Algeria and Morocco remains a smuggling vector of al kinds of merchandise.
Without the presence of the GGF, a special body of the national police force in charge of overseeing the borders, the extent of the trafficking would have been even worse to the national economy.
Hundreds of liters of fuel are pumped by the Mafia and transported towards Morcco, in exchange for big quantities of drugs and alcohol, which poison the youthful population, unconscious of the dangers that come with it.
The border police have been fighting this phenomenon but their mission is far from being easy in these injured and deserted zones, on a border line worsened by the existence of Algerian dwellings situated beyond this line. In fact, border guards have to deal with smugglers that do not hesitate to use all means to make their merchandise pass.
In addition there’s also the complicity of the citizens of the border on these smugglings. The police forces proceeded to a reinforcement of these unities of intervention through a special plan of development including, among others, the placement of officers in crucial points in order to be more effective.
To see the situation more closely, and accompanied by the border guards of the 19th group of Bab El-Essa, we visited the day before yesterday the city of Maghnia (wilaya of Tlemcen) as well as a part of the border line in the west known for the transportation of fuel and other kinds of merchandise (…).
Boukanoune, Bab El-Essa, Siouani and Chraga, those are in fact the main border axes used by smuggling networks for narcotics, weapons and fuel. In the field we were able to notice the efforts taken by the border unities, using all means possible, to hunt the convoys of drug traffickers, as well as the difficulties that come with the task.
Fuel traffickers make the laws
Around 3.30pm we accompanied the 19th group on their inspection of the critical points in the border. On the way we counted a lot a donkeys. These animals benefit from a special consideration, they are well nourished and maintained during the day to get them ready for a night of work. In fact, these animals help on the transportation of fuel towards Morocco, as they know the road well, even if they’re left halfway through. It should be pointed out that a donkey of Maghnia can carry, in one trip, about ten barrels of fuel. Other smugglers like the Algerians use other means to transport their merchandise.
Vehicles with big reservoirs and trucks do several trips a day to fill up on fuel at the stations and transport it towards the dwellings on the border to pass it to Morocco, says Commander Badreddine. We visited several sites and crucial points on the border and the report is often the same. Hundreds of containers and animals are seized before arriving to their destination. During this visit, we were able to notice the difficulties the elements of the GGF go through in their noble mission.
Record numbers of alcohol seizures
Close to 738 745 liters of mazout and 81 630 liters of gasoline were recovered by the services of the GGF since the beginning of 2009. The same services seized 2877 bottles of alcoholic drinks, close to to 884 kilograms of drugs and 50 cartridges of cigarettes coming from Morocco. These operations allowed for the seizure of 44 cars and 7 motorcycles used by the smugglers.
Weapon smuggling supplies terrorist networks
In this framework, the elements of the Police forces of Tlemcen succeeded in seizing an important number of hunting ammunitions (…). These same unities also dismantled, during 2009, an important network of weapons and explosives trafficking, with the arrest of 5 individuals and the seizure of 117 antipersonnel mines. They were able as well to arrest 3 rifles of hand-crafted manufacture, 4 shotguns, 2 automatic guns and 90 triggers, along with 3.07 kilograms of black powder.
300 kilograms of hashish seized in 2009
In the framework of the fight against narcotics, the Police of Tlemcen was able, during these combined operations, to seize important quantities of drugs that traffickers were attempting to smuggle into Morocco through Algeria. During 2009 police unities succeeded in arresting 2 845.83 kilograms of hashish, while in 2008, 280 kilograms had been seized.
According to official sources, traffickers attempted to pass limited quantities of drugs because of losses and difficulties they underwent beforehand when tons of drugs had been seized, especially during the past year. Having seen the recent considerable quantities of drug seizures, the services of the police forces do not exclude the implication of drug business networks in matters of financing and support of some terrorrist groups working in the west of the country.
Lynda Louifi - January 5, 2010
Translated by FLARE Communication and Information Department
