Abdellatif Hammouchi, the Director General of National Security (DGSN) and Territorial Surveillance (DGST) of Morocco, led a significant security delegation to Spain on January 28-29. Invited by Spain's Director General of the National Police, Hammouchi engaged in a series of bilateral and tripartite meetings aimed at enhancing security cooperation and expertise exchange, as reported by the DGSN-DGST press release. During the visit, Hammouchi met with Spain's National Police Director General and senior officials, including the Commissioner General of Intelligence and the Commissioner General of Immigration and Borders. The discussions focused on strengthening the security partnership between Morocco and Spain, addressing issues such as terrorism, violent extremism, and cross-border crime, including irregular migration and drug trafficking. Both parties evaluated the security challenges and threats faced by their countries and explored collaborative strategies to combat them. They praised the effectiveness of joint operations conducted by Moroccan and Spanish security services in neutralizing terrorist threats and emphasized the importance of reinforcing this cooperation to meet shared challenges and aspirations. Following the initial meeting, Moroccan and Spanish experts convened for thematic discussions, highlighting mechanisms to enhance collaboration between the DGST and Spain's General Information Commission. They focused on combating terrorism and curbing recruitment by terrorist organizations, alongside efforts to strengthen criminal investigations and tackle various forms of crime, such as human trafficking, cybercrime, and economic offenses. The discussions also addressed expanding cooperation to intensify supervised drug delivery operations and forming joint teams to counter emerging criminal risks. The creation of a joint security committee to anticipate challenges related to the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco and Spain will co-host with Portugal, was also considered. In a tripartite meeting, Hammouchi joined Spain's National Police Director General and the German Federal Police President to explore expanding cooperation among the three nations. They discussed bolstering trilateral coordination in technical assistance and operational security, focusing on combating terrorism, human trafficking, organized crime, and cyber threats. The delegations shared expertise and best practices to ensure the security of major sporting events, particularly in preparation for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. They underscored the importance of strengthened cooperation to mitigate regional and international security threats.
