Swedish police have thanked their Moroccan counterparts after two Swedes suspected of playing leading roles in major drug networks were extradited from the Kingdom.
Two other Swedish nationals wanted at home have also recently been arrested in Morocco, according to Sweden’s police authority.
The operations come five months after DGSN-DGST chief Abdellatif Hammouchi and Swedish National Police Commissioner Petra Lundh signed a security cooperation agreement in Stockholm in April.
“In a short time, we have seen several extraditions of serious criminal Swedes from Morocco,” said Jonas Hemmar, deputy head of the international unit at Sweden’s National Operations Department, known as Noa.
“It is gratifying that two people who we believe have had a significant impact on drug crime in the country can now be brought to justice.”
Hemmar specifically thanked Moroccan police for their role.
“We would especially like to express our appreciation for the professional and constructive cooperation with the Moroccan police,” he said.
The April agreement set three priorities for cooperation: targeting criminals operating in or from Morocco, tackling links between criminals in the two countries, and working together against cross-border organized crime and cybercrime linked to “crime as a service."
Suspect arrested near Tangier
One of the two extradited men is a 28-year-old suspected by Swedish police of leading a wholesale drug network supplying major criminal groups across Sweden and other Nordic countries.
Swedish police seized large quantities of drugs in Uppsala, Stockholm and Malmö in the spring of 2025, including 94 kg of the synthetic drug 3-CMC and 56 kg of amphetamine.
The 28-year-old, who is suspected of serious drug trafficking and attempted extortion, was arrested at an airport near Tangier on March 30 after being sought through an Interpol Red Notice.
The second man, aged 42, is suspected of holding a leading position in another criminal network.
Swedish authorities accuse him of helping organize the smuggling of large quantities of cannabis into Sweden in 2020 and 2021. Several accomplices have already been convicted in Sweden.
Both men will be remanded in custody following their return.
Two more Swedes arrested
Swedish police also disclosed that two other wanted nationals have recently been arrested in Morocco.
One has links to a criminal network in western Sweden and is wanted on suspicion of particularly serious drug and weapons offenses.
The other, a 28-year-old, had absconded while serving a prison sentence for aggravated assault on a woman and aggravated unlawful threats.
Swedish Customs said bringing suspects back from Morocco would help investigators go after people accused of directing organized crime in Sweden from abroad.
“It is very positive that we now have the opportunity to prosecute suspects who are in Morocco and control serious organized crime in Sweden,” said Erik Friberg, head of a criminal investigation unit at Swedish Customs.
“Getting to the organizers is important in order to eliminate or seriously damage the criminal networks that make a living from drug smuggling,” he said.
