The Casablanca Court of Appeal summons Latifa Raft and prominent figures in the “Desert Escobar” case
In a new and exciting development in the case popularly known as the “Desert Escobar,” the Criminal Court tasked with financial crimes at the Casablanca Court of Appeal decided on the evening of Thursday, June 26, 2025, to summon several prominent figures as witnesses to appear before the court in the session scheduled for July 10.
Moroccan artist Latifa Raft’s name tops the list of those summoned, as she is the former wife of the main defendant in the case, the internationally known drug trafficker dubbed the “Desert Escobar.” The court’s decision also included summoning Abdel Wahid Chouqi, a parliamentary member from the Authenticity and Modernity Party, along with the son of Said Nasri, the former president of the Wydad Casablanca club, who is detained in connection with the same case.
The witness list also includes Samia Moussa, the ex-wife of Abdel Nabi Baïway, her mother Jamila Batoui, and a personal employee of drug dealer Tawfiq Z., who previously provided statements to the judicial police indicating relationships between several defendants and a prominent figure in the drug world, the Malian national Hajj Ahmed Ben Ibrahim.
This case involves numerous heavyweight names in the political and sports arenas, including Abdel Nabi Baïway, the former president of the Eastern Region, and Said Nasri, the former president of the Wydad Sports club, amid suspicions of international drug trafficking and the formation of a transnational criminal network.
The session on July 10 is expected to shed more light on potential relationships between public figures and the drug dealer known as the “Desert Escobar,” making this file one of the most controversial cases in recent years in Morocco.
