July 2024
11 reports. Seizures 9 · Eradications 2
Customs finds 15 kg of cannabis in a suitcase at Velana airport
Officers found more than 15 kg of cannabis in the luggage of a 44-year-old Malaysian man who arrived on flight EK656 on 27 July 2024. Police put the street value at MVR 12.3 million and called it the largest single cannabis seizure of the year; a controlled delivery led to a second arrest, of a 41-year-old Malaysian man.
Britain and Thailand join forces against cannabis couriers
A UK-led operation with Thai customs began in July 2024 to stop cannabis carried or posted from Thailand to Britain. By April 2025 more than 50 British nationals had been arrested in Thailand, Thai customs had intercepted over 800 smugglers and nine tonnes of cannabis since October 2024, and cannabis posted to Britain had fallen by 90 per cent in the first quarter of 2025.
Malagasy gendarmes uproot ten hectares of cannabis in a protected area
In an operation from 4 to 15 July in the protected zone of Mount Tsaratanàna, in Ambanja district, twenty gendarmes and four agents of Madagascar National Parks uprooted about 600,000 cannabis plants on ten hectares and burned 950 kg of dried cannabis. The growers fled as the patrols arrived and no one was arrested.
North Hamgyong reports a 40% rise in drug crime and orders a summer crackdown
The provincial security bureau told the party committee in early July 2024 that drug offences in North Hamgyong had risen 40% from a year earlier, with more than 900 cases in Chongjin in the first half of the year. The committee made July and August an intensive crackdown and said smuggling drugs to China should draw heavier sentences, up to death.
São Tomé police raid cannabis fields and sales points, arresting nine
Police’s Operation 971 targeted cannabis fields and sales points across São Tomé and Príncipe in July 2024, according to a later account of the operation.[@1] Seven men and two women, all São Toméan, were detained and brought for an initial judicial hearing.[@1] The operation involved the prison and social reintegration service and the state leaders’ protection unit alongside the judicial…
Kyrgyzstan burns 85 tonnes of wild cannabis
In July 2024 the drug-control service mapped 627 hectares of wild cannabis and sent 90 brigades to cut and burn it. The service reported more than 85 tonnes destroyed, including 27 tonnes in Chuy region, 17 tonnes in Issyk-Kul and Naryn, 15 tonnes in Bishkek and smaller amounts in the south. The operation was part of the annual Kara-kuurai eradication campaign.
Marib forces seize 190 kg of hashish bound for Houthi areas
Security forces in Marib stopped a truck carrying 190 kg of hashish at a checkpoint and said it was being smuggled into Houthi-controlled territory. The head of Marib's drug-control department, Abdul Razzaq al-Ruwaifi, said the shipment and the accused were handed to the prosecution. The seizure was announced by the official Saba news agency and reported by Yemen Monitor.
Palau seizes 182 cannabis plants in Peleliu
Police seized 182 cannabis plants, $31,600 in cash, seeds, joints, scales and a ledger in Peleliu; Anna Gotlob was charged on 4 July 2024. Peleliu had been raided repeatedly since 2019, showing that local cultivation persisted despite the crackdowns.
Armenia stops bringing criminal cases for small plant-based possession
In 2024 prosecutors stopped opening criminal cases for small amounts of plant-based drugs, cannabis included, when there was no evidence of sale, and sent the files for an administrative fine instead. Drug crimes fell from 5,070 in 2023 to 3,639 in 2024, while administrative drug offences rose from 387 to 633.
Illicit small-scale growing still dwarfs the legal sector
Fieldwork in 2022–2024 found Zimbabwe's illicit cannabis sector still far larger than the new legal one in estimated output and significance to people's livelihoods.[@1] Mutoko in the north-east and Binga in the north-west were known for small-scale illicit cultivation, with local supply complemented by imports from Malawi, South Africa and Mozambique.[@1] Binga and Chiredzi were chosen for…
Micronesia finds probable cause in a 183-gram mailed-cannabis case
In FSM v. Ehsa, customs found 183 g of marijuana joints in a parcel addressed to a Pohnpei post office box. The court upheld probable cause under the possession and trafficking provisions and rejected search and entrapment arguments at the preliminary stage. The final disposition was not traced.