Elements of the Regional Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ) of Fez proceeded, in close coordination with the services of the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), to the arrest, Saturday in Meknes, of 16 individuals, aged 25 to 52, for their alleged involvement in acts of extortion and threats to commit crimes and offenses against persons and property, according to a security source.
The suspects, most of them with criminal records, were arrested during security operations carried out simultaneously in several districts of Meknes, for their alleged links with criminal networks involved in extortion and the threat of citizens, by relieving them of sums of money. money at the city’s bus station that they use for their travels, the same source said.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the defendants would have operated illegal car parks for the extortion of drivers and road transport professionals whom they hated of sums of money without legal reason.
The suspects were placed in police custody at the disposal of the investigation carried out under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor’s office in order to elucidate the ins and outs of this case and to determine the possible ramifications of this criminal activity, adds the same source. .
This arrest is part of the sustained efforts made by the services of the General Directorate of National Security and the DGST to fight against criminal networks active in extortion, theft, drug trafficking and fraud in Meknes, according to the modus operandi known as “Ztata”, we conclude from the same source.