The decision of the investigating judge in the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal in Casablanca, Morocco, on Friday, December 22nd, to arrest Saeed Naciri, president of Wydad Casablanca Club, and Abdelnabi Bayoui, president of the Oriental Region, who belong to the Authenticity and Modernity Party, along with other detainees, constituted one of the most prominent events of the year. .

The arrest took place against the backdrop of investigations conducted by the police since last summer into their relationship with the activity of a drug dealer called “Escobar of the Desert.” He was convicted of 10 years in prison after his arrest in 2019.

Al-Nasiri, Al-Baiwi, his brother Abdul Rahim, and the businessman Al-Yazdi are considered the most prominent detainees in the file.

They were charged on suspicion of committing criminal acts such as “forgery and bribery, facilitating the exit of people from Moroccan territory, and participating in the receipt, transport and export of drugs.” The Public Prosecution requested that they be pursued under arrest.

In August 2023, the French magazine “Jeune Afrique” had published the contents of the confessions of a citizen of the country of Mali (his mother is Moroccan and his father is from Mali), who was involved in the drug trade, where he stated that he had drug-related activities with Saeed Al-Nasiri and Abdel Nabi Al-Baiwi, and that Al-Nasiri seized On his own villa. This file is still under investigation, and it could bring down more heads.

The investigating judge at the Casablanca Court of Appeal continues to listen to the defendants, before formally charging them and referring them to trial.

The arrest of two prominent figures in “Bam” caused shock within their party, as the party’s National Council issued a statement, expressing its confidence in the judiciary, and said that both figures had their membership in the party frozen since their names were raised in this case.