Lilongwe businessman held after six cobs of chamba found in his office
Police in Lilongwe arrested businessman Rashid Adam Sauzande on 2 February 2015 after a Criminal Investigation Department search of his office on Devil Street found six cobs of Indian hemp, locally known as chamba. The cannabis was sent to Chitedze Research Station for testing and state prosecutors later called it a dangerous drug at a Lilongwe court hearing.
Police in Lilongwe arrested businessman Rashid Adam Sauzande, who runs the
Ambassador Rest House in the city, and said he was found in possession of Indian
hemp, locally known as chamba.[1]Kingsly Dandaula, the public relations
officer for Lilongwe Police Station, said the arrest was made on 2 February 2015
after the police’s Criminal Investigation Department searched Sauzande’s office
at the rest house.[1]Dandaula said the search followed suspicions that
Sauzande could be involved with drugs.[1]
Dandaula said the search of the office on Devil Street began at around 10 in the
morning and found six cobs of chamba, and that Sauzande was then taken to
Lilongwe station for questioning.[1]The six cobs were sent to Chitedze
Research Station for tests and police were still waiting for the result,
Dandaula said.[1]The Maravi Post, which carried the same account, reported
that Malawi News Agency staff on the Tuesday before publication saw proceedings
in the Lilongwe court where state prosecutors described the drug as a dangerous
drug.[2]Sauzande complained that he was sick and needed special medical
treatment, according to that account.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
No weight or value was given for the six cobs, so no kilogram figure is recorded.
The amount is described as six cobs, not whole plants, and no laboratory result is reported.
The accounts say nothing about formal charges, bail or any court outcome beyond the first appearance in Lilongwe court.
The Maravi Post reproduces the same Malawi News Agency police statement as Nyasa Times, so the accounts are not independent of each other.
The Maravi Post's court passage is ambiguous about whether its reporter attended a hearing on the Tuesday or describes one that was still due, and it does not name the court or say what Sauzande was charged with.
The page's picture of Indian hemp is an undated illustration accompanying the story, so it is not listed as media for this event.
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.
