December 2025
13 reports. Seizures 4 · Sentences 4 · Arrests 2 · Prosecutions 2 · Raids 1
Customs finds 40 kg of hashish oil in chocolate syrup bottles
Customs officers inspecting sea freight on 25 December 2025 found more than 40 kg of hashish oil hidden in bottles labelled as chocolate syrup. Police estimated the street value at over MVR 30 million and arrested two men, aged 47 and 57, on 26 and 27 December; both were remanded for five days. Hashish oil is a cannabis concentrate and is treated as a Schedule 1 drug.
Kiribati suspends a prison sentence for two cannabis plants
Tom Utimawa pleaded guilty to cultivating Indian hemp after police found two plants in his backyard and dried leaves in his sleeping hut. The High Court sentenced him on 23 December 2025 to 18 months in prison suspended for two years and a A$600 fine. The primary judgment was blocked; the details come from a case summary.
The Supreme Court upholds the Kian delos Santos murder conviction
The Supreme Court affirmed the murder conviction of three policemen for killing 17-year-old Kian delos Santos during a 2017 anti-drug operation in Caloocan. It upheld reclusion perpetua without parole and 275,000 pesos in damages, rejecting the officers' claim that the teenager had fought back. The decision was dated 11 August 2025 and made public on 22 December.
Gibraltar fines a man £800 for possessing 127 grams of cannabis resin
A 42-year-old man received an £800 fine after police found about 127 grams of cannabis resin during a foot patrol.[@1] He appeared in the Magistrates’ Court the morning after his arrest and was charged with possession of a Class B drug.[@1] The case came under the current criminal code, which allows fines or imprisonment for possession.[@2]
Samoa orders armed police on drug raids
The government ordered police to be armed during drug raids after drugs were found in boxes of frozen chicken, and the prime minister called drug trafficking a top priority. The order was an enforcement response, not a change in the Narcotics Act.
Sana'a court sentences a hashish dealer to death
The Specialized Criminal Court in Sana'a sentenced Ahmed Abed al-Dhabian to death for buying, possessing, transporting and selling hashish, and ordered his movable and immovable property confiscated. A second defendant received 25 years for drug trafficking, and three others five years each for possessing hashish with intent to use.
Abu Dhabi appeal court cuts a cannabis life sentence to three months
Abu Dhabi's Court of Appeal overturned a life sentence for possessing cannabis and psychotropic substances with intent to traffic and reclassified the offence as possession for personal use. The court found no evidence of promotion, negotiation or delivery, and said the investigation did not explain why police had concluded he was trading.
Police seize 222 kg of hashish in Badakhshan
Police in Kishim district, Badakhshan, arrested two people and seized 222 kilograms of hashish from a vehicle disguised as a livestock carrier. The provincial police spokesman said the men were handed to judicial authorities. It was one of the largest single cannabis seizures reported in northern Afghanistan in 2025.
Šamac police arrest a suspect after finding 3.8 kg of marijuana
Republika Srpska police arrested one person and reported finding 3.8 kg of suspected marijuana during a court-authorised search. The suspect was referred to the Doboj prosecutor the following day.
Antsohihy gendarmes report 1,440 kg seized over six months
The Sofia gendarmerie reported 1,440 kg of cannabis in 114 sacks seized around Antsohihy over six months, with 10 arrests. The stock was burned on 8 December, and another 400 kg was seized the same afternoon.
Police in northern Cyprus arrest ten people in two days of drug operations
In operations on 4 and 5 December 2025 in Kyrenia, Lefke, Metehan, Nicosia and at Ercan Airport, police reported seizing about 3.5 kg of drugs, most of it cannabis, including about 2 kg from a 22-year-old in Metehan and 600 g in Kyrenia, and arresting ten suspects. Two of them were held at the airport over four cannabis cigarettes after a detection dog alerted officers.
Serbia indicts two defendants over the Zemun cannabis seizure
Belgrade’s Higher Public Prosecutor said it filed an indictment against two defendants in the case involving two tonnes of cannabis seized in Zemun. The indictment followed the investigation opened in August.
Cannabis cultivation spreads in southern Sagaing
The Irrawaddy reported that villages in Ayadaw township and along the Myinmu border had shifted from rice, beans, betel nut and cotton to cannabis since 2022–23. Residents estimated at least five acres per village and more than thirty acres across six villages.