Abdel Nabi Baïoui broke down in tears inside the Casablanca Court of Appeal on Thursday afternoon after being confronted by the court with serious statements made by international drug dealer Haj Ahmed Ben Ibrahim, known as the “Pablo Escobar of the Sahara,” accusing him of involvement in international smuggling networks.
Baïoui addressed the court, saying: “I cried for the first time when my father passed away, and today I cry because my mother asked me, ‘Did you involve yourself in the forbidden?’” He emphasized that his mother’s question deeply affected him and firmly denied any connection to drug trafficking.
The leader of the Authenticity and Modernity Party considered the claims made by the “Pablo Escobar of the Sahara” to be filled with contradictions, stressing that he only met him in 2013, which negates any allegation of a prior relationship or partnership before the latter entered Morocco.
Baïoui rejected accusations suggesting his involvement in forging a marriage contract with a woman six months pregnant, explaining that it was the wife who handled all the procedures, and that statements from a maid and another witness to the judicial police confirm this.
Regarding comments from “Tawfiq.Z,” an assistant to the drug lord, which alluded to transactions involving the sale of trucks and cars, Baïoui responded that those statements were inconsistent, indicating that he was only dealing in cars in 2019 and that the trucks in question entered the national territory legally.
The court confronted the accused with police reports confirming the existence of five trucks operating illegally, without license plates, with tracking devices disabled and chassis numbers altered, described as a systematic operation to facilitate smuggling.
Testimonies from his brother, Abdel Rahim Baïoui, were also presented, claiming he received orders from Abdel Nabi to conceal the identity of those trucks. However, the latter completely denied this, asserting that he had not managed the company for some time, and that his brother was fully responsible for operations, having never issued instructions related to dismantling or forgery.
