Tanzania police seize 9,102 kg of cannabis near Mount Meru
Police in Arusha seized 9,102 kg of cannabis in 267 bags from gorges and homes around Olkokora village on the slopes of Mount Meru, and burned a two-acre bhang farm. No arrests were reported when the seizure was announced on 30 October 2014.
🇹🇿 Olkokora village, slopes of Mount Meru, Arusha Region · Tanzania
Tanzanian police said on 30 October 2014 that they had seized9,102 kg of cannabis in an ongoing crackdown in the north of the country.[1][2]Arusha Regional Police Commander Liberatus Sabas said the seizure followed an operation in Olkokora village on the slopes of Mount Meru, Tanzania’s second-highest mountain.[1][2]The operation brought together police officers, anti-narcotics officials and other security agencies.[1][2]
Police said 267 bags of cannabis were seized on Tuesday and Wednesday, hidden in mountain gorges and in some people’s homes.[1][2]During the operation police set fire to a two-acre farm of bhang, about 0.81 hectares.[1][2]Sabas said no one had been arrested as the investigation continued.[1][2]
An ongoing northern crackdown
The announcement presents the Olkokora operation as part of an ongoing crackdown in the northern part of the country.[1][2]Sabas tied the seizure to police work around Arusha, on the slopes of the country’s second-highest mountain.[1][2]Because both opened pages relay the same police account, this report treats the weight, bag count and farm size as the commander’s account rather than independently verified findings.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Tanzania's Drug Control and Enforcement Authority announced on 29 September 2026 that July–September operations across 14 regions seized 18,078 kg of drugs including 11,504.76 kg of cannabis and 44.45 kg of skunk, arresting 289 suspects. Morogoro and Tabora accounted for most of the cannabis; vehicles used by traffickers were impounded.
Tanzania's Drug Control and Enforcement Authority reported destroying 603 acres of cannabis farms in four Mvomero district villages, seizing 49 bags of processed cannabis and arresting 13 suspects. Authorities also dismantled 21 temporary camps used by growers.
Tanzania's drug authority said that by 3 August 2026 a 16-day operation in Kilwa district had destroyed 3,117.9 acres of cannabis in Kandawale and Kipatimo wards and arrested 12 suspects. Between 200 and 250 residents joined the clearing each day.
The Dar es Salaam High Court on 29 May 2026 overturned the Ilala court's acquittal of Nurdini Juma, charged with trafficking 314.45 g of cannabis found in his Kivule room in February 2025, ruling a prima facie case existed. The case was sent back for retrial before a different magistrate.
