Zambian held in Mzimba with 17 bags of chamba weighing 850 kg
Malawi police in Mzimba district arrested a 36-year-old Zambian man and seized 17 bags of cannabis, known locally as chamba, weighing 50 kg each, or 850 kg in total. The Mzimba police spokesperson said officers ambushed him after a hired driver tipped them off that the drug was to be carried to Lundazi in Zambia.
Malawi police arrested a 36-year-old Zambian man, Febe Moyo, and seized 17 bags
of cannabis, known locally as chamba and as Indian hemp, at Champhira in Mzimba
district.[1]Police put the weight at 50 kg a bag, a total of 850 kg.[1]
Mzimba police spokesperson Gift Nyirongo said detectives at Champhira police
post laid an ambush after a hired driver told them he had been enlisted to carry
the drug to Lundazi in Zambia and that they would set off at midnight.[1]Nyirongo said officers arrested Moyo around midnight and seized the 17 bags,
each weighing 50 kg.[1]
Moyo, from Chipembe village in traditional authority Mpezeni in Zambia’s Chipata
district, was charged with being found in possession of cannabis sativa under
section 19(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act.[1]Police said he would appear in
court soon.[1]The article also reported an earlier June 2012 case in Mzimba,
in which a Zambian woman, Hildah Phiri, was held with six bags of chamba
weighing 90 kg each and remanded at Mzimba Prison; that is a separate event.[1]
Photos and video
Police officers inspect bags of impounded cannabis, captioned 'Cops inspecting bags of impounded cannabis'.Photo details
No court appearance or outcome is reported; the article says only that he would appear in court soon.
The 850 kg total is the police figure of 50 kg a bag multiplied by 17 bags; no tested weight is given and the drug is described as suspected Indian hemp.
The bags may have been weighed gross; the article does not say whether the 50 kg includes packaging.
Only one account of this arrest could be opened; no police statement or second outlet was found.
The article also reports a separate June 2012 arrest of Hildah Phiri in Mzimba, a different event not covered here.
The photo is captioned as police inspecting bags of impounded cannabis and is dated August 2012, but the article does not state which seizure it shows.
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.
