Police destroy cannabis garden and arrest 16 in Mbale, Wakiso and Iganga
Uganda Police raided cannabis growers, sellers and smokers in Mbale, Wakiso and Iganga districts between 21 and 23 November 2024, arresting 16 suspects and destroying a cannabis garden. The operations hit a garden in Mbale, a bar doubling as a marijuana outlet in Wakiso, and distribution points in Iganga and Kyengera.
Uganda Police raided cannabis growers, sellers and smokers in Mbale, Wakiso
and Iganga districts between 21 and 23 November 2024, arresting 16 suspects
and destroying a cannabis garden.[1][2]
On 21 November, police found a cannabis garden allegedly owned by 52-year-old
Oguti Robert at Nangirima Upper village in Mbale District, destroyed the
plants and arrested him.[1][2]The following day, officers raided a bar in
Gogonya, Wakiso District, around 11:00 AM: the owner fled, while Nakawunde
Lydia and Kawoya were caught smoking marijuana.[1][2]The bar was suspected
of distributing marijuana under the guise of a legitimate establishment and
was found holding significant stocks of the drug.[1][2]
In Iganga District, police arrested twelve suspects in Busei A and Nampirika.[1][2]On 23 November, an intelligence-led operation in Bengazi Ghetto in
Kyengera Town Council, Wakiso District, detained 42-year-old Kyalimpa Evelyn,
who was found with a sack of marijuana rolls and confessed to her involvement.[1][2]
Police spokesperson ACP Kituuma Rusoke announced the operations at a press
briefing at police headquarters in Naguru on 25 November.[2]No charges or
court outcomes for the 16 suspects have been reported.[1][2]
Photos and video
Cannabis plants in the garden the police release says officers found and destroyed in Mbale District.Photo details
Source: Uganda Police Force · archived copyOfficers stand in the Mbale cannabis garden among uprooted plants during the destruction operation. Photo: East News Uganda.Photo details
No figure for the size of the Mbale garden or the weight of marijuana seized was published.
Most of the 16 arrested are unnamed, and no charges or court outcomes are reported.
The Gogonya bar owner fled during the raid and is not named.
The release bundles a separate 21 November anti-crime operation in Ntinda, where 18 suspected phone snatchers were arrested; it is left out here because no cannabis link is stated.
East News repeats the police briefing rather than reporting the raids independently.
Police and residents in Warr Sub-County arrested Patrick Odongo on 14 August 2026, uprooting fresh marijuana in his garden and finding dried cannabis in his house after he allegedly severed a gravity-fed water line on 10 August, leaving 146 households without supply.
A joint Uganda Police and UPDF operation in Paminyai, Nwoya District, arrested five suspected traffickers and destroyed four acres of marijuana linked to a syndicate supplying South Sudan and Gulu City.
Uganda's joint Interpol operation Usalama, run from 30 October to 4 November 2019, destroyed 33 cannabis gardens covering about 30 acres in Busia District and netted 21 narcotics arrests, including growers and traffickers.
Ugandan police destroyed 55 acres of cannabis plants during the two-day regional Operation Usalama III on 29 and 30 June 2016, run with EAPCCO, SARPCCO and Interpol across 22 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.
