Moroccan hash dealers boycott Israeli drug smugglers in support of Gaza - report

A farmer beats marijuana plants to get hashish resins in the Rif region, near Chefchaouen, August 11, 2008.

Hashish dealers in Morocco have stopped supplying Israeli smugglers with hashish due to the ongoing war in Gaza, according to a Friday N12 report.

It is unclear exactly when the boycott began. However, the report stated that criminal organizations have already lost “tens of millions of shekels” since the boycott began.

Moroccan hash is sought after worldwide as a high-quality premium product, with estimates putting the trade’s yearly value in the billions, making it one of Morocco’s most valuable industries after tourism and phosphate exports.

The majority of Morocco’s cannabis is grown and processed into hashish in the al-Rif region in the north of the country.

An Israeli involved in the drug trade living in Morocco told N12 that the export of hashish is a key part of the Moroccan economy and that without it, their economy would collapse.

The cannabis that was found (credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

The cannabis that was found (credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

He explained the majority is sold to dealers in Europe, but “At best, only a few hundred kilograms of Moroccan hashish reach Israel. The price of a kilogram of Moroccan hashish can reach NIS 300,000 in Israel. The demand for it in Israel is crazy because it is very high quality, clean, and strong.”

Moroccan hash was regularly smuggled into Israel before the war, with several criminal organizations involved in the trade, the report noted. Local Israeli smugglers were regularly employed by these groups, some of them even Yeshiva students.

They would smuggle the drug in hidden compartments in their suitcases or would travel by car from Tangier to Spain on the ferry and sell in Europe.

Moroccan hash boycott

“The hashish dealers in Morocco are not willing to sell us more hashish either directly or through intermediaries,” a drug smuggler from Israel told N12, “They decided that because of the war, they are boycotting us. Since the war, we have lost a lot of money. Tens of millions of shekels at least.”

A Moroccan dealer from al-Rif confirmed to N12 that a boycott had been put in place, saying, “Why is it possible for Israelis to make a living selling Moroccan hashish when our Palestinian brothers are suffering from hunger and living in inhumane conditions? Go buy it somewhere else. We no longer sell hashish to Israelis.

“Before the war, we did business here with Israelis. Smugglers and dealers came here and made good money. Now that’s the end of it.”