May 2025
11 reports. Seizures 7 · Eradications 2 · Prosecutions 1 · Sentences 1
Timor-Leste's 2022 cannabis case reaches court after nearly three years
The Dili court began the pre-trial debate in the case against 13 defendants charged after the 12 August 2022 raids; nine appeared and four were abroad. The 2022 seizure included hashish, hashish chocolate and 0.50 g of methamphetamine, with $4,139.25 in cash. Witnesses described the intelligence-led raids and disputed who had detained the first five suspects.
Laos seizes 86 kg of cannabis at Wattay airport
Three Malaysians aged 25 to 29 were arrested at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane with 86 kg of cannabis in 103 packages, concealed in suitcases and bound for Germany. The case was one of the few cannabis-specific airport seizures reported in 2025.
Bhutan uproots wild cannabis nationwide
The Royal Bhutan Police began a nationwide cannabis uprooting campaign across all twenty dzongkhags in May 2025, starting with Thimphu. The force reported 13.15 kg of cannabis leaves, 1.26 kg of hashish and 337 plants seized in 2024, and 225 cannabis-abuse cases against 197 in 2023. The campaign was enforcement, not a change in the law.
Taliban court gives hashish traffickers prison and lashes
A Taliban court sentences eleven people for trafficking hashish and narcotic tablets to between seven months and three and a half years in prison, plus ten to thirty-nine lashes.[@1]
Kiunga police seize 18 kg of marijuana sent by mail
Police in Kiunga, Western Province, arrested two men from Western Highlands after finding about 18 kg of dried marijuana in two boxes at Rubber Corner. The boxes had been sent by Mail Express from Mount Hagen via Port Moresby; police put the street value at K90,000–100,000. Both were charged under section 3(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
Qatar customs find 6 kg of hashish in car parts
Customs officers at Hamad International Airport found 6 kilograms of hashish and 1 kilogram of heroin hidden in automotive spare parts in a passenger's luggage. The General Authority of Customs said the drugs were seized and legal proceedings began. The seizure was announced on 23 May 2025.
Thailand warns tourists against taking cannabis out of the country
As cases of travellers smuggling cannabis rose, the health minister, Somsak Thepsutin, said it was against Thai law to take cannabis out of the country without permission from the authorities, and that shops would soon be allowed to sell only to customers with a prescription. In March 375 kg had been seized in 22 suitcases at Samui airport and 13 foreigners arrested.
Thai cannabis turns Kathmandu airport into a transit route
In the year to mid-April 2025, police seized 114.8 kg of cannabis at Tribhuvan International Airport, up from 540 grams the year before and 36 grams in 2022. Most came in suitcases on flights from Thailand, where legalisation had made strong indoor-grown cannabis easy to buy, and investigators said the destination was India.
Türkiye destroys 7.5 million cannabis plants in Diyarbakır
Governor-led teams raided cannabis fields in seven districts of Diyarbakır with 2,212 personnel, a helicopter and drones, destroying 7,543,818 cannabis and skunk plants. The governor's office said the plants could have produced 174 tonnes of hashish, and eight people were detained. The operation was one of the largest in the southeast, where most illegal cannabis cultivation is found.
Kiribati police find a second cannabis plantation in Tarawa
Police found a cannabis plantation about two metres high near the clinic at Takoronga, Tarawa, arrested and cautioned a suspect, and described it as the second drug bust of 2025. The first was at Abatao on 28 April.
Dushanbe police seize 16 kg of hashish and opium from a delivery group
Police stopped three men transporting 16 kg of hashish and opium into Dushanbe and opened a case under part 4 of Article 200, the especially-large supply offence. The men were held in custody while police looked for their supply chain. The offence carries 12–20 years in prison.