Security Scandal in Morocco: Thousands of Agents at Risk of Data Exposure Copy link

Algeria Gate: A routine drug bust off the coast of Huelva turned violent this week, exposing just how far Morocco-linked hashish smuggling networks are now willing to go to protect their cargo.

Spain’s Civil Guard said the operation began Monday when a maritime patrol, working with customs surveillance agents, spotted a semi-rigid boat suspected of running drugs and gave chase. The smugglers responded with reckless maneuvers on open water, dumping part of their load overboard before opening fire on the pursuing officers; a level of aggression rarely seen even in a region well accustomed to drug-running.

Guards returned fire, wounding one suspect, but the boat escaped after the patrol vessel broke down. Spanish forces spent the following days hunting for the crew and the missing cargo. By Thursday, they had located and intercepted both the original boat and a second vessel that had been backing it up at sea. Nine people were arrested and nearly six tons of hashish seized. A tenth suspect, shot during the earlier clash, was later found abandoned on the Cádiz coast and hospitalized.

In total, the operation netted ten arrests, roughly 5,926 kilograms of hashish and two speedboats, but more strikingly, it confirmed what Spanish authorities have increasingly warned: smuggling networks along the southern coast are no longer just evading patrols, they’re arming themselves to fight through them.

The Huelva bust wasn’t isolated. Earlier this month, Spanish police dismantled a separate network moving hashish and marijuana from Morocco, arresting 57 people across six provinces and seizing over 10.5 tons of hashish, 1.1 tons of marijuana, plus weapons, vehicles and cash. Days later, a joint operation with Ecuadorian police and Europol broke up a cocaine-trafficking ring linked to Morocco, seizing more than 21 tons of the drug and arresting 43 people, including two Moroccans.

Taken together, the cases point to a fast-evolving threat: what was once opportunistic maritime smuggling has hardened into organized operations with speedboats, weapons, logistics networks and the cash to move between regions freely. Spain, and Cádiz’s coast in particular, remains the primary gateway for Moroccan drugs entering Europe, and incidents like Huelva suggest the networks running that pipeline are growing bolder, better armed, and increasingly willing to fight rather than flee.

Algeria Gate: The Makhzen regime is facing growing challenges in maintaining its phosphate-derived fertilizer exports to European markets, amid rising concerns that these fertilizers may contain levels of toxic cadmium, a heavy metal that can migrate from soil into agricultural products and food, prompting warnings about its health and environmental risks.

In its natural state, phosphate contains cadmium, a heavy metal that is found in higher concentrations in phosphate deposits in Morocco, the United States, and Tunisia than in deposits in countries such as South Africa and Russia, according to data from the French health agency. The risks associated with this metal increase because it can migrate into agricultural soil and subsequently into food crops.

Cadmium is classified as a substance of health concern. It can cause damage to the kidneys, bones, and respiratory system and can increase the risk of cancer. It is a toxic heavy metal that occurs naturally in small quantities and can reach humans through air, water, and food. It can also accumulate in soil and agricultural crops, particularly when certain phosphate fertilizers containing high levels of cadmium are used.

The issue has become a public health concern in Europe, particularly in France, where calls have intensified for stricter controls on fertilizers imported from Morocco because of the potential risks they pose to agricultural products.

Faced with this pressure, the Moroccan Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), which monopolizes the exploitation and processing of phosphate, attempted unsuccessfully to develop specific technologies to reduce cadmium levels in fertilizers destined for the European market. The group says the technology involves treating phosphoric acid and separating and isolating cadmium before it is used to manufacture fertilizers. However, this has not been enough to convince European health organizations, which have criticized the continued reliance on fertilizers imported from Morocco.

These measures have raised questions about cadmium levels in Moroccan fertilizers destined for markets outside the European Union, particularly since the company does not disclose the levels of this metal in all of its products. This has fueled concerns that different standards may be applied depending on the destination and market.

The Moroccan phosphate industry also faces environmental problems beyond cadmium, particularly those associated with fertilizer-production waste, most notably phosphogypsum, which contains heavy metals and acidic substances.

Between the risks posed by cadmium, European regulatory pressure, environmental problems, and supply disruptions, the phosphate sector produced by the Makhzen regime is entering a difficult period, while reducing toxic-metal levels has become an essential condition for maintaining its presence in the European market.

Algeria Gate: Historian Margarita Torres said that the Kingdom of Morocco did not exist before 1957, stressing: “We will not lose the two Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which have never been Moroccan.”

Speaking on La Tarde, a program broadcast by Spanish radio station COPE, the historian reviewed the three-thousand-year history of the two cities and compared it with the relatively recent emergence of the Alaouite Kingdom.

Historian Margarita Torres analyzed the historical foundations of Spanish sovereignty over the cities of Ceuta and Melilla during her appearance on La Tarde on COPE. Commenting on claims made by the Makhzen authorities regarding the two autonomous Spanish cities, the historian described those claims as “wild fantasy” lacking documentary evidence and historical logic.

Torres noted that both locations have continuous histories stretching back more than 3,000 years.

“This is the first thing Spaniards must understand clearly: the Kingdom of Morocco did not exist before 1957,” the historian said, comparing the modern emergence of the neighboring country with the Phoenician past of the two cities, known historically as “Abila” and “Russadir.”

When discussing Morocco’s independence from the French protectorate in 1956 under Francisco Franco, the professor drew a comparison with the 1975 Green March.

“If the people of Ceuta and Melilla, and all Spaniards, want to understand what is currently happening in Ceuta, they should study the Green March of 1975,” she warned on COPE.

The historian further warned that pressure at the borders and disputes over territorial waters are not limited to North Africa, but also point directly toward the Canary Islands.

Assessing Moroccan territorial claims and legislative moves, she stated: “Ceuta is the first step, Melilla is the second, and the Canary Islands are the third.”

Regarding the population’s longstanding connection to the cities, Torres said local residents defend their sovereignty because they “understand the side with which they have been connected for centuries and thousands of years.”

At the same time, she criticized shortcomings in the current education system for failing to include Mauretania Tingitana on school maps depicting Roman Spain.

At the conclusion of her remarks, Torres stressed the need to preserve historical memory and territorial sovereignty in the face of any external strategy, including what she described as the Makhzen regime’s expansionist plans.

She concluded firmly on La Tarde: “Of course, we will not lose the two Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which have never been Moroccan.”