Police dismantle drug and money-laundering network led by government employee and her husband

Officers from the anti-narcotics sub-directorate of the El Gorjani judicial police directorate in Tunis dismantled a drug trafficking and money-laundering network on Friday 3 July, seizing around 76 kilograms of cannabis resin, quantities of cocaine, luxury vehicles and large sums of cash, multiple Tunisian media outlets reported.

The network is alleged to have operated in both domestic and international drug trafficking. Initial investigations indicate it was led by a female employee of a government ministry and her husband, described by investigators as the principal organisers of the criminal structure, according to La Presse de Tunisie and Réalités Magazine.

Search operations carried out under judicial authorisation also uncovered a registered commercial company suspected of having been used as a vehicle to launder proceeds from drug sales, Directinfo reported, citing initial findings. Investigators believe the couple used shell companies and opaque financial transactions to give their assets and luxury goods the appearance of legitimate wealth.

The public prosecutor ordered all suspects held in custody pending investigation. A judicial inquiry has been opened on charges of forming a criminal group for the purpose of holding and distributing narcotics, and for money laundering, La Presse de Tunisie said.

Investigations are continuing, the sources said, to identify possible accomplices and establish the full reach of the network.

The operation is one of a string of major anti-narcotics actions by Tunisian security forces in 2026. In May, the National Guard's central anti-narcotics brigade in Ben Arous, working with the prosecutor's office at the Sousse 2 court of first instance, concluded a ten-month investigation by dismantling an international cannabis trafficking network spanning seven governorates and arresting 67 people of Tunisian and foreign nationality. That operation yielded 106.5 kilograms of cannabis, more than 1.4 million dinars in cash, jewellery valued at around 600,000 dinars and 26 vehicles, with investigators identifying laundering circuits that included the use of cryptocurrencies.

In January 2026, a criminal chamber of the Tunis court of first instance handed sentences of between 45 and 55 years to 16 members of a separate international network that had smuggled drugs into Tunisia via La Goulette port from two European Union countries, following an investigation by the same El Gorjani anti-narcotics unit.

The investigation into the network dismantled on Friday is at an early stage. No names or the specific ministry involved have been disclosed by the authorities.

This is a developing story.