Tunisia Fights Against Rising Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime
In the face of a surge in drug trafficking and the expansion of organized crime networks, Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed emphasizes the need for a continuous and uncompromising fight, combining judicial firmness, prevention, and permanent mobilization to combat this scourge that threatens Tunisian society.
The Scale of the Problem
The announcements of drug seizures are becoming a daily occurrence, illustrating the unprecedented scale of a problem that is constantly expanding. This proliferation raises fundamental questions: how do such large quantities of drugs penetrate the territory, and why has trafficking increased so significantly since the fall of the old regime in 2011, a period marked by the temporary decline of security units?
Security Operations Across the Country
From ports to border posts, airports, and popular neighborhoods, the country has become a theater of large-scale security operations. Conducted jointly by various units of the Ministry of the Interior and customs services, these interventions are multiplying in an attempt to curb this scourge.
Recent Arrests and Seizures
In recent months, the Ministry of the Interior has carried out major operations, including the interception of dozens of kilograms of cocaine at the Ras Jedir border post, massive seizures of cannabis in ports, and the dismantling of several active crime networks.
A Delayed Response
Official figures illustrate the scale of the problem. According to security authorities, more than 1.5 tons of cannabis, thousands of psychotropic tablets, and several kilograms of cocaine have been seized in recent months, accompanied by dozens of arrests and the confiscation of vehicles, yachts, and significant sums of money from trafficking. The situation is like facing well-organized groups, particularly commanded from abroad.
Reconstituted Networks
Despite successive crackdowns, the networks seem to be reconstituting themselves at an alarming rate. As soon as one network is dismantled, another appears, driven by increasingly structured counterfeiting circuits and transnational ramifications that are difficult to contain.
A Growing Menace
This continuous proliferation feeds the sense of a phenomenon that is gradually spreading through the social and economic fabric of the country. Security operations regularly uncover new trafficking cells, as if the crime networks are developing through fragmentation, like a cancer that regenerates despite successive treatments. Behind the spectacular seizures and media-reported arrests, authorities face a fundamental challenge: preventing the durable rooting of a parallel economy of drugs that is gaining ground every day.
A Continuous Fight
This continuous flow of seizures is far from indicating a failure in the fight against trafficking. On the contrary, the Tunisian police maintains a state of constant vigilance. They sleep with one eye open. Proof of this is the arrest of Diego Bocciero, a high-ranking official of the Camorra (Naples mafia) sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison in Italy, on March 9, 2026, in Sousse. Wanted by Interpol, the 37-year-old fugitive had been pursued by Italian investigators since his escape in December. This operation is considered a major coup for the Tunisian police.
The Origins of the Problem
According to security sources, the spread of drug trafficking in Tunisia is largely due to the relaxation of security measures during the post-2011 period. The past decade has been marked by an unstable security situation that has weakened and sometimes disorganized several specialized units fighting against drugs, allowing crime networks to restructure and gradually expand their activities. A significant delay in the response has logically led to this situation. Added to this are the evolution of transnational counterfeiting circuits and the exploitation of economic and social difficulties to recruit new intermediaries and consumers, particularly among young people.
Challenges and Recommendations
The same sources also estimate that the modifications introduced by Law No. 2016-5 of February 16, 2016, amending certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure relating to deprivation of liberty and the status of suspects during phases of detention and investigation, have indirectly complicated the work of units fighting against drugs. Although this reform has consecrated fundamental guarantees in the field of defense rights, security officials consider that it has sometimes been exploited by certain networks to circumvent investigations or slow down procedures.
In this context, several recommendations advocate for the strengthening of the prerogatives of the Director of the Anti-Drug Fight, as well as the allocation of more human, technical, and logistical resources to face networks that have become more structured and difficult to dismantle.
A New Law Against Drugs
In this context, it is useful to note that, in the face of the explosion of drug trafficking, the Assembly of Representatives of the People (ARP) is preparing a reform of Law No. 92-52 on Drugs. Recently auditioned by deputies, legal experts have validated this project of global refounding, which introduces two major innovations: the use of special investigative techniques to track networks, and heavier sanctions against the falsification of drug testing samples (biological samples). The objective is to urgently adapt the judicial arsenal to a scourge that now saturates the courts.
A Firm Justice Against Drug Networks
In the face of the resurgence of drug trafficking and consumption in Tunisia, President Kaïs Saïed has always called for a continuous mobilization going beyond the security framework. He has repeatedly emphasized the need to conduct permanent awareness and prevention campaigns, particularly in schools, to protect young people against a phenomenon he considers a direct threat to society. For the Head of State, this fight must be global, constant, and carried out without respite, through coordination between security, educational, and social institutions, without complacency or blind spots.
A Global Approach
At the beginning of this year, during a meeting with the Ministers of the Interior and Education, as well as several security officials, Kaïs Saïed advocated for the reinforcement of permanent patrols around schools and high schools. He warned against the continued aggravation of this phenomenon, which he considers a threat to undermine the social fabric and destabilize society. He also emphasized that this fight should not be limited to the security aspect, but also rely on educational and preventive approaches, particularly through the sensitization of young people to the risks associated with drugs.
Justice Applied Equitably and Rigorously
Kaïs Saïed has also emphasized that the fight against drug networks cannot be effective without a justice applied in an equitable and rigorous manner. Arrests and prosecutions, according to his recommendations, should spare no one, regardless of their status, influence, or protection. This explains the arrest, in certain drug cases, of high-ranking officials and state agents.
The objective is to put an end to this "gangrene" that is spreading in the country by ensuring equal treatment for all before the law and targeting both traffickers and networks that support or facilitate their activities.
