According to a BCIJ statement, this operation was carried out on the basis of precise information provided by the services of the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST).

The DGST special forces units carried out separate and simultaneous operations to intervene and arrest the three suspects, aged between 19 and 28, in Souk El Arbaa, Tetouan and Larache.

These forces seized, during raids carried out at detainees’ homes, several weapons and manuscripts promoting Daesh’s extremist ideas and inciting violence, in addition to written publications on Daesh’s Terrorist activities in the Sahel region and digital material to be subjected to technical expertise.

Preliminary information from the investigation indicates that the defendants, who declared their “allegiance” to the Daesh terrorist organization, planned to carry out a series of dangerous terrorist projects. For this purpose, they prepared various digital contents related to their Terrorist Plans.

Searches and investigations also revealed that the arrested suspects intended to flee Morocco to join Daesh camps in the Sahel region after carrying out their terrorist plans in coordination and with the help of one of the elements affiliated to this terrorist organization.

The members of this terrorist cell were arrested for the purposes of the investigation conducted by the BCIJ under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor in charge of terrorist affairs, in order to reveal the nature of the ramifications of this cell and to identify all its plans and subversive projects.

The arrest of these suspects comes in a context marked by an increased terrorist threat and the willingness of global terrorist organizations and their regional affiliates to multiply their subversive operations, the statement concluded.