In its latest crackdown on smuggling, Morocco foils a marijuana smuggling operation hidden in marble blocks

An attempt to smuggle cannabis worth approximately 8,99 tones were foiled by Moroccan police near Casablanca, the police said in a statement. Drugs were concealed in large blocks of marble, each weighing about 10 tons, intended for export to an African country, according to the report. It added that large sums of money and two-car license plates with fake license plates had also been seized during the raid at a warehouse near Casablanca, Xinhua reported.

Five people are suspected of being involved in international drug trafficking. Besides being wanted by Moroccan Police for drug trafficking, two of the arrested are also subject to an international arrest warrant issued by French authorities in a case of voluntary manslaughter.

Moroccans remain one of the world's leading producers of cannabis resin despite efforts to crack down on cannabis farming in the last decade, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.