A Moroccan court in Casablanca has sentenced 29 individuals, including prominent politicians and sports figures, to prison terms of up to 12 years after a two-year trial over international drug trafficking and corruption. The verdicts, delivered late on Thursday, conclude one of the largest anti-corruption operations in Morocco’s history. Among those convicted were Abdennebi Bioui, a construction tycoon and former regional council president, Said Naciri, former president of Casablanca’s Wydad AC football club, and former MP Belkacem Mir, all senior members of the governing PAM party. Naciri received 10 years, Bioui 12, and Mir 10, while others received between two and nine years depending on their roles.

The case originated from testimony by El Hadj Ahmed Ben Brahim, a Malian trafficker known as the “Pablo Escobar of the Sahara,” who accused Moroccan associates of betrayal after his 2019 arrest. The network was found to have trafficked Moroccan cannabis resin across North Africa to Europe and handled Latin American cocaine shipments. Convictions included drug and gold trafficking, corruption, forgery, and money laundering.

The court ordered asset seizures and imposed hundreds of millions of dollars in fines. The scandal prompted King Mohammed VI to call for a binding code of ethics to reform parliamentary conduct.