Moroccan authorities have revealed new developments regarding the case of Moroccans being held in border areas between Thailand and Myanmar by an "international criminal network." A 23-year-old man has been referred to the judiciary on suspicion of being "linked to the network."
Earlier this week, the National Judicial Police Brigade referred the suspect to the competent public prosecutor's office in Casablanca, due to suspicions of "ties to an international criminal network involved in human trafficking, kidnapping, detention, and ransom demands."
Investigative data indicated the suspect's connection to a criminal network operating in Asia and his role as a mediator in luring several victims under the pretext of providing translation services for a Thai company, before the victims were captured by this criminal network under the threat of firearms, their passports confiscated, subjected to degrading treatment, and forced to work in scams on an electronic platform.
The suspect's arrest followed investigations that came after the liberation of a group of victims from this network, which revealed "the involvement of the suspect along with other intermediaries, identified as being outside Morocco, in facilitating this criminal activity."
A search related to this case yielded "two laptops and a mobile phone" in the possession of the suspect, and these items have been forwarded to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences and Criminal Evidence for technical examination, as they are suspected to contain digital traces documenting this criminal activity.
The suspect has been detained to uncover "all the criminal acts attributed to him before being referred to the competent public prosecutor's office."
