March 2026
12 reports. Seizures 5 · Sentences 3 · Prosecutions 2 · Raids 1 · Arrests 1
A man is jailed for taking 25 kg of cannabis on a domestic flight
A 56-year-old South Australian man was sentenced to three years in prison on 25 March 2026 for trying to take 25 kg of cannabis on a domestic flight from Adelaide to New South Wales. Airport staff became suspicious of his suitcase in August 2024, and he pleaded guilty to a Commonwealth trafficking charge in August 2025. The District Court set a non-parole period of one year.
Morocco seizes nearly 12 tonnes of cannabis near Essaouira
Police stopped three commercial vehicles with forged plates in the countryside outside Essaouira and found 11,755 kilograms of cannabis. The drivers ran off, leaving the drugs and ten false plates; a parallel search at Sidi Kaouki turned up another vehicle. The operation was run by the DGSN with the DGST, local authorities and the royal gendarmerie.
New Zealand's cannabis possession charges reach an eight-year high
Ministry of Justice figures reported in March 2026 showed 3,438 people charged with possessing cannabis in 2025, up from 2,881 in 2024 and 2,287 in 2023, the highest number since a 2019 law change told police to consider a health-based response first.
Cannabis reports rise even as Hong Kong's overall drug abuse falls
Hong Kong recorded 5,077 reported drug abusers in 2025, down 2 per cent from 2024, but the number who reported cannabis rose from 678 to 705. Cannabis was the second most common drug among people under 21 after etomidate, with 263 young users. Police arrested 4,108 people for drug offences, up 27 per cent, and cannabis was one of the three main drugs involved; the conviction rate was 86 per cent.
Bayda court gives life terms to cannabis growers
The Bayda Criminal Court convicted five men of cultivating cannabis for trafficking on a farm in Wadi al-Akki. Three received life imprisonment and a 50,000-dinar fine each; two received ten years and a 3,000-dinar fine each. All five lost their civil rights, and the ruling was reported on 15 March.
North Macedonia withdraws six more cannabis cultivation licences
The government announced a further six cultivation-licence withdrawals following the Health Ministry commission’s inspections. Its spokesperson attributed the decisions to failures to meet legal conditions. These were individual licensing decisions within the medical cultivation system.
Police data show no cannabis fines since 2022
A Freedom of Information request found that Israel Police issued no administrative fines for personal cannabis possession or use between 2022 and 2025, after thousands in 2020–21. Police said the enforcement framework for the 2022 regulations was still being designed, leaving the fine scheme on the books but unused.
Tunisia counted 14,300 drug-trafficking cases in 2025
The interior ministry reported on 7 March 2026 that 2025 brought 181,998 judicial cases in total, 14,300 of them drug-trafficking cases, and 69,164 arrests, 20,289 for drug trafficking. It also reported seizures of cannabis, 479,830 tablets, 146.77 kg of cocaine and 751.25 g of heroin. The figures cover police and national guard, not customs.
Police dismantle over 1,000 cannabis plants in a Losser warehouse
Police entered a business hall on the Pol in Losser after an anonymous tip and found a working cannabis farm with more than 1,000 plants. The nursery had illegally tapped electricity and water; no one had been arrested.
Plants destroyed 1,000Police seize 35 kg and arrest thirteen at Ambohimanarina
A raid on a house used as a depot and consumption lounge at Ambohimanarina, Antananarivo, found 35.054 kg of cannabis and led to 13 arrests: four wholesalers and nine dealers or buyers. All were jailed at Antanimora.
A lawyer gets life for hashish flown from London
The Criminal Court sentenced a well-known lawyer and a Kuwaiti fugitive in London to life for trafficking hashish and psychotropic substances sent by air cargo. A young woman and another Kuwaiti received seven years each. The case showed that air cargo from Europe, not only Gulf sea routes, supplies the market.
Montenegro police file complaints against two more Trnovo suspects
Police filed supplementary criminal complaints against two men from Zeta, aged 42 and 49, on suspicion of drug production and supply linked to the Trnovo cannabis plantation.[@1] Investigators cited forensic examinations, analysis of traces and other collected evidence; three earlier suspects had already been processed.[@1] The case began with the discovery of about 13,100 plants near Bar in…