CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — A Moroccan court handed prison sentences to 29 people, including prominent politicians and sports and business figures, in an international drug trafficking and corruption scandal that has rocked the country.
The court also ordered the defendants to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines late Thursday after a trial that lasted more than two years.
The case began when an imprisoned drug kingpin dubbed “Sahara’s Pablo Escobar," in reference to the notorious Colombian trafficker, alleged that some of his business associates, including senior Moroccan politicians, were involved in drug trafficking and seized his assets while he was in prison. Those accused have denied the allegations.
The revelations led to multiple arrests and a lengthy trial that involved 30 defendants, 18 witnesses and two civil parties. The case reignited debate over corruption in Moroccan political circles. It also prompted King Mohammed VI, Morocco’s highest authority and a figure officially above politics who rarely speaks publicly, to call for the adoption of a legally binding code of ethics to “moralize” life in parliament.
Abdennebi Bioui, a construction tycoon and former lawmaker with the co-governing Authenticity and Modernity Party, or PAM, who headed a Regional Council, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $15,989.
Said Naciri, a former PAM lawmaker and former president of Wydad AC, one of Morocco’s most prominent soccer clubs, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Belkacem Mir, a former PAM lawmaker and former president of a soccer club, was also sentenced to 10 years.
Other defendants received prison sentences of up to nine years and fines of up to $26,649. One was acquitted. Charges included drug and gold trafficking, corruption, forgery and violations of exchange control regulations. Attorneys can appeal the ruling.
The court ordered the seizure of assets belonging to several defendants, including Bioui, Naciri and Mir, capped at $1 million. It also ordered hundreds of millions of dollars in financial penalties to be paid to customs authorities, with the bulk to be paid jointly by the three men.
Prosecutors had called for the conviction of all the defendants and the seizure of assets, according to local media.
As the judge read out the sentences, shouts of protest rang out from the defendants’ box. “I am innocent. I haven’t done anything,” some yelled. Within moments, the tension inside the packed courtroom No. 8 boiled over into scenes of panic and grief. Relatives screamed, some collapsed to the floor, and others wept as police officers pushed through the crowd to restore order.
Police documents presented in court show that Hadj Ahmed Ben Brahim, a jailed Malian drug lord, accused his partners of involvement in an international gold trafficking network. He also accused them of seizing his assets, including a luxury villa, high-end apartments and dozens of cars.
The Paris-based magazine Jeune Afrique has reported that Ben Brahim teamed up with Moroccan politicians to transport cannabis resin to Libya, Egypt and Mauritania.
Morocco is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of hashish. Although the North African nation has legalized cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial purposes, drug trafficking remains deeply entrenched. Its proximity to Europe has helped traffickers move narcotics across the Mediterranean.
The court ordered Bioui, Naciri and Mir to jointly pay Hadj Ahmed Ben Brahim $106,599.
FILE - Wydad AC players celebrate their victory at the end of the CAF Champions League Soccer final soccer match between Morocco's Wydad Athletic Club and Egypt's Al Ahly SC, at the Mohammed V stadium, in Casablanca, Morocco, Monday, May 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, file)
Abderrahim Saidi, lawyer for Nasr Eddine Benabid who was acquitted, speaks to reporters in Casablanca, Morocco, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Akram Oubachir)
Family members wait outside the appeal court of Casablanca, Morocco, Thursday, June 25, 2026.(AP Photo/Akram Oubachir)
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans took the search for missing loved ones into their own hands Friday in the aftermath of back-to-back earthquakes, saying they have not seen state rescue teams despite authorities projecting an image of a robust government response.
The devastating 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes that struck late Wednesday killed at least 589 people and left thousands injured, authorities said. Desperate families across northern Venezuela searched in the ruins of buildings for family members and whatever remained of their lives.
Nazareth Jimenez sobbed into the shoulder of a loved one as she watched neighbors try to cut through slabs of concrete with power tools in a building reduced to a mountain of debris. “My god, how are we going to get them out of there?" she murmured.
She was in the hardest-hit northern state of La Guaira, just north of the capital of Caracas, and was wracked with anxiety as she waited to see if her siblings, nephews, nieces and friends would emerge from the debris alive.
“We're making a call for help to governments of countries across the world,” Jimenez said, pleading for machines that would be capable of moving collapsed structures. "There are still people alive in there.”
At the same time, acting President Delcy Rodríguez sought to project the idea that authorities were mounting a full response, and on Friday she welcomed the arrival of rescuers and humanitarian aid from all over the world. Rodríguez said La Guaira had been militarized as crews search for survivors and distribute food and water.
The number of dead was expected to climb, with thousands of people reported missing.
“We are going to rescue the people who are trapped,” she said. “We are working tirelessly on this task.”
The International Organization for Migration said that up to 6.76 million people in Venezuela could be affected by the quakes, some 2 million of them in Caracas alone. Loyce Pace, the International Red Cross’ regional director for the Americas, said “people are still terrified to reenter what were their homes.”
Many were stunned Thursday morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, with furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead. Buildings were flattened and streets cracked open.
Families posted missing-person flyers with photos while others shared handwritten lists of names. Venezuelans abroad struggled to make contact with relatives due to interrupted phone service.
In downtown Caracas, hundreds spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.
A mother of three, Dayana Delgado, asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised and said residents were the ones digging through crumpled buildings.
“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said of her missing 8-year-old son.
Another mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her 3- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of the missing. Some stood in silent shock.
Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters. A 1999 mudslide there killed thousands.
In La Guaira, Cristian Carreño stared at his charred apartment building tilting precariously to one side.
“I lost everything,” he said. “There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”
Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendaño climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signaling with her hand for help.
“May God rescue her as quickly as possible,” Mendaño said. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”
Media reports have shared notable moments of hope, including a young man brought out on a stretcher in the San Bernardino district of Caracas to the applause of onlookers as his tearful mother said, “Leandro, I love you.”
Venezuelan TV broadcast video of a girl covered in dust and wrapped in a sweatshirt as she emerged from rubble with the help of rescuers. Caracas metropolitan rescue team head José Luis Núñez said she was found in a 10-story building in La Guaira that collapsed and flattened “like a pancake.”
“We want to highlight this girl’s strength, determination and will to live,” Núñez said.
The natural disaster is the latest challenge for Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the capture and removal from power of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the United States. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodríguez represents.
Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.
While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.
The U.S. Geological Survey said both earthquakes were centered near Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.
“It is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard,” Ferreira said.
Shortly after U.N. officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people could get potentially lifesaving information, Venezuelans were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024 in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.
Some 1,000 emergency responders in 25 search-and-rescue teams from across the globe are deploying to Venezuela, said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Rodríguez following the quake, said the United States was immediately deploying assistance.
“We have a whole-of-government response. It’ll be big. It’ll be fast, and it’ll be effective,” Rubio said, while acknowledging the closure of Venezuela’s main airport near Caracas created logistical challenges.
Venezuelan TV on Friday showed the arrival of rescuers with dogs and equipment, including cameras and ground-penetrating radar, from Spain. Teams from Germany, Chile and Switzerland also landed. Turkey announced two flights will leave Istanbul on Friday with rescuers and a pair of search dogs. China also said it will provide assistance. Leaders from Qatar, Brazil, Portugal and Canada vowed to send help.
Rescue teams from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic arrived Thursday, along with rescuers and material aid from Mexico.
“No country is prepared to provide the response that’s needed. That’s what neighboring countries are there for,” Dominican air force Maj. Carlos Olivares said.
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Julie Watson in San Diego, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, India Grant in Mexico City, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Teresa Medrano in Madrid contributed to this report.
Residents search through the rubble two days after an earthquake struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A covered body lies in front of a damaged building a day after an earthquake and several aftershocks struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
People search for missing relatives at the collapsed building where they lived two days after an earthquake struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Police carry a body recovered from the rubble of a building in La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026, a day after successive powerful earthquakes struck the country. (AP Photo/Javier Campos)
Franklin Fuentes searches for missing relatives in the collapsed building where they lived two days after earthquakes struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
People attend a mass to honor the victims of the earthquakes in Venezuela, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A man walks over the fallen walls of his home in Moron, near the epicenter of two earthquakes that struck Venezuela the day before, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacinto Oliveros)
Residents walk among the rubble of building damaged in earthquakes the previous day in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
People camp in the street the night after the earthquake struck Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Neighbors carry a man rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building the day after earthquakes struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
