Morocco’s Director of National Security Cancels VIP Passes at Mohammed V Airport

Abdellatif Hammouchi, head of the Moroccan intelligence services and Director of National Security and Territorial Surveillance, ordered the elimination of special treatment (VIP) to all passengers traveling in and out of Casablanca’s Mohammed V Airport.

Airport’s VIP passes for influential personalities, diplomats and members of the Parliament will not be accepted any longer, according to Moroccan daily Al Massae in its Wednesday issue.

Special treatment passes to VIP’s allowed important personalities to avoid airport controls and queue lines at Morocco’s largest international airport, which could allegedly pose a security threat.

Hammouchi’s new instructions, according to the same source, are “to impose control measures to all passengers without exception”.

Authorities expect to discover anomalies and detain several individuals with arrest warrants. In the wake of the latest terrorist attacks and threats made to Morocco by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) Moroccan intelligence services have increased their alert level.

Any passenger regardless of their nationality, including Moroccan citizens, will be subject to searches and asked to fill out detailed immigration forms regarding their visit.

The new security measures have been put in place also to detect suspicious people who are used to travel to a specific foreign country several times per year without any surveillance.

The DGSN and DGST have also implemented another safety measure. According to the daily, a team of security personnel will check ID’s of people outside of the airport.

Meanwhile, the second team will check passengers’ passports and luggage with the use of sophisticated scanners.

Following the latest arrests of Moroccan and Spanish terror suspects in Spain, both countries’ intelligence services will be working together to exchange information and strengthen cooperation.

Elements of the Moroccan police have been deployed to the Barajas airport, and Spanish police officers have been brought to Morocco’s Mohammed V airport for increased security.