"Arab"-related OC is a Lebanese, North African or Assyrian thing. The Lebanese clans in for instance Germany (or Australia) do seem to regard themselves as Arabs; the North Africans and Assyrians definitely don't. Basically every Moroccan dude I know over here postures himself as a proud Berber and wouldn't pass up on the opportunity to dismiss Arabs as being a "bunch of pansies".
To write them off as a bunch of petty drug dealers is definitely missing the mark a bit. Sure there's plenty of low level rats among them, but there's quite a few who work in the higher regions of the drug trade. Moroccans in for instance Antwerp bring in tons of dope, as do Algerians in for instance the north of Marseille. There's local protection rackets aplenty, prostitution, money laundering... Some of them have definitely moved beyond your average street punk status.
Co-signed 100%
The Moroccans have entered the highest levels of organized crime over here in Holland and Belgium. Guys like Ridouan Taghi and Houssine Ait Soussan, just to name a couple, are anything but your average street punk that's for damn' sure..
The Moroccans were big in New York from what I am told, but they have kept out of the news in an Amazing way. I heard stirs form an ex-detective who was active from1984
till some time in the early part of this century, and he told us that the Moroccans had small but very strong groups in Brooklyn and Queens. He also told s many were less ethnic in dress and mannerisms, although hey kept their culture in some ways. I did not know if was true, and still wonder about it.
