SA truck driver arrested in Dedza with 112 bags of chamba
A 42-year-old South African truck driver, Trust Hlengeni Masingi, was arrested in Dedza, Malawi with 112 bags of chamba, the local name for cannabis, in his 30-tonne truck. Each bag weighed about 50 kg, roughly 5.6 tonnes in total, and the bags were held at Dedza police station as he awaited court.
🇲🇼 Dedza, Malawi
Arrested
1
Cannabis
5.6 t
A South African truck driver, Trust Hlengeni Masingi, was arrested in Dedza,
Malawi for being found in possession of 112 bags of suspected indian hemp
(cannabis).[1]The 42-year-old Masingi carried the 112 bags of chamba, each in
50-kilogram bags, along with rice husks in his 30-tonne Scania truck.[1]The
seized bags of marijuana were kept at Dedza police station as police prepared to
take the suspect to court.[1]The bags were described as 112 of the illegal
drug weighing 50 kilograms each, with a further 30 bags of rice husks in the
30-tonne truck.[2]Masingi comes from the Denniottin area in Limpopo, South
Africa.[2]
The charge of being found with chamba usually attracts a fine of about K200,000,
or 12 months in prison if a convict fails to pay the fine.[2]
Photos and video
Photo published with the SA Trucker account of the South African driver's Dedza arrest, captioned on the page 'South African truck driver locked up in Malawi after being found with 112 bags of dagga'. Photo: SA TruckerPhoto details
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Source: SA TruckerPhoto published with the SA Trucker account of the South African driver's Dedza arrest, one of the handout pictures of the 112 bags of dagga in the truck. Photo: SA TruckerPhoto details
Original
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our 320px copy; enlarging loads the original
Source: SA TruckerPhoto published with the SA Trucker account of the South African driver's Dedza arrest, one of the handout pictures of the 112 bags of dagga in the truck. Photo: SA TruckerPhoto details
The two accounts disagree on Masingi's age (42 in SA Trucker, 43 in Africa-Press) and on the number of rice-husk bags (550 in SA Trucker, 30 in Africa-Press); the rice-husk count is not a cannabis quantity and is not recorded.
Only the 50 kg per bag is stated; no independent verification of the total weight (about 5.6 tonnes) was published, so it is recorded as the reported figure.
No plea, sentence or court outcome was reported in these accounts; the bags were held at Dedza police station as the driver was to be taken to court.
The exact day of the arrest is not stated in either account; it is described as 'Friday' and 22 April 2022 (SA Trucker's publication date) is used as the incident date.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Africa-Press – Malawi: Masingi was in police custody in Dedza after being arrested on Friday, and was expected to be taken to court on Monday morning.
Police in Dedza arrested 46-year-old Mayamiko Empraim on suspicion of supplying chamba to three pupils aged 13 to 15 at Kapalamula Primary School. He was in custody and expected to face a charge of possessing cannabis sativa after a school outreach programme led to the report.
Police arrested four people aged 17 to 27 during a sweeping exercise in Balaka Township on 31 October 2026 for possessing cannabis sativa without a licence. Two were found with loose cannabis and 15 twists in a plastic lid; two with loose cannabis in glass bottles and two packets of hemp rolling papers. All four, from Traditional Authority Nsamala, will appear in court.
Malawi police arrested David Chikomeni Chirwa, a board member of the Cannabis Regulatory Authority, and Storm Kandodo at the Jenda roadblock on the night of 6 August 2026 after finding 19.2 kg of cannabis they could not show a permit for. Chirwa was granted bail at his first court appearance the next day.
Police in Blantyre arrested Castel Malawi Limited chief Herve Milhad on 8 April 2022 for allegedly growing cannabis at his Kabula Heights home, seizing 5 grams and uprooting 59 plants. He was granted police bail the same day pending laboratory verification and a court appearance.
