Jabarout Unmasks Morocco’s Deep State: How a Hacker Shattered the Myth of the Untouchable Makhzen
✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Algiers, Algeria | “Corruption in Morocco is no longer confined to the streets; it is now shielded by the very security services meant to fight it.”
This is the damning verdict of the anonymous hacker known as “Jabarout”, who for months has been exposing the Moroccan elite with leaks that have shaken the foundations of the regime. In a twist of poetic justice, the terror once inflicted by Morocco’s surveillance machine on dissidents and foreign leaders is now being visited upon its own architects.
For weeks, Morocco’s most powerful intelligence service, the DGST (General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance), has been put on the defensive. And the weapon of choice is not Pegasus spyware this time, but Telegram — where Jabarout has turned his channel into a doomsday vault for Rabat’s secrets.
“A Rotten System Protecting the Corrupt”
Weeks ago, Jabarout fired a chilling warning:
“The decrepit apparatus meant to protect Morocco is nothing more than an instrument gone rogue — built to shield the corrupt, silence voices, sell the kingdom’s secrets at bargain prices, and mortgage Morocco’s future.”
His latest revelations accuse Abderrahim Hamidien, head of the political security bureau (DST) in Casablanca, of purchasing a luxury villa complete with a swimming pool — despite his modest government salary. Supporting documents of the deal were published online.
But Hamidien was hardly alone.
Jabarout’s wrath had earlier targeted Mohamed Raji, nicknamed “Mr. Écoute” in Rabat, widely seen as the mastermind behind Morocco’s mass wiretapping and Pegasus operations. Raji — whom many now call “the Julian Assange of Morocco” in reverse irony — was identified as the lynchpin linking the palace to its sprawling espionage network.
According to the leaks, he not only orchestrated illegal spying on dissidents, journalists, and foreign dignitaries, but personally oversaw Pegasus operations that infected the phones of Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez, French President Emmanuel Macron, and several of their ministers.
Corruption at the Top — and a Hacker’s Vengeance
In June, Jabarout issued a direct and ominous threat to Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi, who had publicly dismissed him in parliament:
“Mr. Minister, we gave you a chance to change things for the better — to serve the Moroccan people, to deliver justice, to seek the truth. Instead, you chose lies, denial, and parroting the false reports handed to you. You will face the consequences.”
One month later, Jabarout struck. He revealed that Ouahbi had taken out a 11 million dirham ($1.2 million) loan in 2020 to acquire prime real estate in Rabat. According to the leaks, he inexplicably repaid the loan in full by July 2024 — a feat impossible to justify on a minister’s salary, which would normally require 18 years of repayments. Worse still, on August 12, 2024, Ouahbi transferred the property to his wife, undervaluing it at just 1 million dirhams to evade taxes.
“This,” Jabarout declared, “is the kind of criminal fraud no justice minister should ever commit. And it is only the beginning.”
The Most Explosive Leak Yet
In August, as Morocco sweltered under a summer heatwave, Jabarout dropped his most devastating dossier:
A list of ten top DGST officials — complete with their national ID numbers, bank accounts, and internal roles.
Among them:
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Abdallah Rezrazi – Director of Counter-Intelligence
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Saifeddine Blelidi – Head of HR, close friend of King Mohammed VI
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Abderrahim Hamidien – Regional chief in Casablanca
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Abdallah Randour – Chief of staff to DGST’s powerful director Abdellatif Hammouchi
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Mohamed Raji – Pegasus architect
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Mohamed Zahidine – Regional director in Tangier
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Mohamed Bourourou – Senior accountant tied to drug money flows
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Haboub Cherkaoui – Head of Counter-Terrorism Bureau
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Benyahoud Labchir – DGST director in Rabat
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Abdelatif Belfaida – Head of advanced counter-espionage
The documents further show Raji and his partner, Rachid Hassani, purchased an entire industrial zone in Beni Mellal in December 2023 for 30 million dirhams (€3 million). Yet their official salaries were only 25,000 dirhams per month (€2,400). The discrepancy is staggering.
From Wire Technician to Morocco’s Spy Czar
Exiled Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet, now based in Spain, traces Raji’s meteoric rise:
Born in 1960, Raji began as a telephone technician before joining the DST in the 1980s, specializing in bugging embassy lines, hotel rooms, and ministerial offices. With Pegasus, his power skyrocketed.
By 2021, revelations that Pegasus had infected Macron’s personal phone caused an international scandal.
Now, Jabarout’s leaks depict Raji as a millionaire with luxury properties, shadow contracts with Hungary, Cyprus, and Luxembourg, and shell companies in France.
Worse, he and Hassani allegedly sold classified intelligence to European and Middle Eastern agencies, deliberately leaving backdoors in Morocco’s surveillance systems.
When the Watchers Spied on Themselves
The leaks allege that Morocco’s intelligence services did not limit their spying to dissidents. They also bugged senior army officers, ministers, and even the royal palace itself.
Targets reportedly included Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, his wife Salwa, and their daughters — as well as the King and members of the royal family, whose encrypted phones were infected.
“Not even Mohammed VI escaped,” Jabarout claimed, “his own spy agency sold his secrets abroad.”
A Crumbling Edifice of Power
The fallout has been seismic. Ministers implicated include:
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Fatima Zahra Mansouri, Housing Minister and Marrakesh mayor, linked to unexplained wealth worth €5 billion.
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Nasser Bourita, Foreign Minister, accused of real estate fraud and shell company transfers totaling $1.6 million.
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Leila Benali, Energy Transition Minister, also targeted by damaging leaks.
Meanwhile, the opposition demands a parliamentary inquiry, but the government’s response has been censorship, defamation suits, and scapegoating — reinforcing the image of systemic rot.
Who is Jabarout?
Speculation abounds. Some insiders claim Jabarout is none other than “Messi”, a former DGST IT expert who fled to Europe after personal vendettas with superiors.
Others believe it is an inside job — warring factions within DGST using leaks to weaken Hammouchi, the once-feared intelligence tsar.
Some theories even point to Algeria or Western intelligence services, though the granular detail of the leaks suggests a Moroccan insider.
Notably, Jabarout’s first media contract was signed with DZ Channel, an Algerian outlet.
From Fear to Ridicule: Hammouchi’s Fall
Once nicknamed “the eye that never sleeps”, Hammouchi is now the butt of public ridicule.
“Once he inspired fear,” a Spanish security source told El Independiente. “Now he inspires pity.”
Despite his decorated visits to Spain and France, Hammouchi cannot even identify the hacker dismantling his empire in plain sight.
The Beginning of the End?
Jabarout frames his leaks not as personal revenge, but as part of a larger struggle:
“Our fight is for freedom and truth. Everyone is complicit. Tyranny will be exposed. And as we warned before: every time our name is mentioned, our response will grow stronger.”
For a regime long shielded by opacity and fear, the nightmare is only beginning.
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