Moroccan mafia

The Moroccan mafia (Arabic: مافيا مغربية, romanized: Mafia Maghrebiyya, Berber languages: ⵎⴰⴼⵢⴰ ⵉⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱⵉⵢⵏ, Dutch: Mocro Maffia) is a term that describes various criminal organisations that are primarily made up of people of Moroccan descent. These organisations are specialized in trafficking large quantities of cocaine and synthetic drugs through Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium, from where it is distributed to the rest of the European continent,^[3][4] thus being one of the most dominant participants in the European drug trade.^[5][6]

In broader terms of Moroccan organized crime, this also includes northern Moroccan hash kingpins^[7][8] and southern Moroccan traffickers who play a key-role in the African drug trade, as well as in human trafficking, arms trafficking and the trafficking of contraband such as cigarettes and alcohol, although they are seen as a separate entity from the Mocro Maffia who are mostly active in the northern part of Morocco and Europe.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Moroccan criminal networks in Europe have mainly been active since the 1990s, and consist mostly of Belgian and Dutch citizens with a Moroccan immigrant background. These criminal networks have privileged relationships with Colombian and Mexican cartels,^[13] and they often import drugs into Europe through the harbours of Antwerp, Rotterdam and Algeciras.^[3][14]

The Moroccan mafia does not, however, include Moroccan Jewish crime families such as the Abergil crime family^[15] as well as the Abutbul^[16] and Domrani clans,^[17] who are rather considered to be a part of the Israeli mafia. That said, Moroccan-Israeli mafia clans are known for having collaborated closely together with the Mocro Maffia in the Netherlands and Belgium, especially in the worldwide distribution of synthetic drugs such as MDMA.^[18] This is mostly due to the fact that the Netherlands is the largest producer of MDMA and amphetamines in the world.^[19]