Norway pushes for deeper judicial ties with Rabat to tackle cross-border crime

Norway pushes for deeper judicial ties with Rabat to tackle cross-border crime Norwegian authorities say they have identified around 19 Norwegian nationals believed to be hiding in Morocco and linked to drug-trafficking networks. Wednesday 01/04/2026 Moroccan special forces detain a man after a counter-terrorism operation in Temara, on the outskirts of Rabat, September 10, 2020. OSLO Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service, known as Kripos, has said it wants to elevate security and judicial cooperation with Morocco to a higher level, enabling authorities to target the masterminds behind transnational criminal networks more effectively. According to Norwegian media reports, Kristin Kvigne, Chief of Police at Kripos, said the agency has, since 2022, repeatedly informed both the ministry of justice and the ministry of public security of the need to formalise cooperation agreements with Morocco. “We have proposed the idea of a formal agreement for some time, and we now hope this issue will be resolved soon,” she said, noting that progress has so far been slow. Norwegian authorities say they have identified around 19 Norwegian nationals believed to be hiding in Morocco and linked to drug-trafficking networks. Nora Pedersen, a Norwegian police attorney, said that for years the main demand has been to establish a higher level of judicial cooperation between Norway and Morocco, but this has yet to materialise. She explained that Norway regularly sends judicial requests to Morocco related to these cases, but they often move “very slowly”, attributing this to the absence of a formal legal framework governing cooperation between the two countries. Pedersen stressed the importance of strengthening international police and judicial cooperation, built on trust and mutual understanding, to effectively combat serious cross-border crime. For its part, Norway’s ministry of justice said there is already “good cooperation” between the two countries in tackling serious transnational crime, noting that existing agreements include provisions for judicial cooperation. The ministry added that Moroccan authorities have responded to Norwegian requests, including recently, and emphasised that there are no legal barriers preventing cooperation even without a specific bilateral agreement. Despite this, Oslo is seeking to deepen coordination further, with officials confirming ongoing dialogue with Moroccan counterparts aimed at achieving closer and more effective collaboration. Cooperation between the two sides has already advanced in recent years. In November, Abdellatif Hammouchi, head of Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security and Territorial Surveillance, met Norway’s National Police Commissioner Hakon Skulstad on the sidelines of an Interpol General Assembly meeting, where they signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance operational coordination and exchange expertise in combating organised crime. A recent Norwegian police report warned that criminal networks in the country, particularly those involved in drug-trafficking, have intensified the recruitment of minors over the past year. The report added that such networks are highly adaptable and resilient, with leaders often based abroad and frequently holding dual nationality, making their extradition to Norway more difficult.
2026-04-01 12:19:34