Nkhotakota police seize minibus with 43 bags of chamba and arrest one man
Police at Kaombe roadblock in Nkhotakota stopped a minibus travelling from Dwangwa to Salima on the night of 3 August 2014 and found 43 bags of cannabis. James Kamanga was arrested after officers shot out a tyre; his companion escaped.
🇲🇼 Kaombe roadblock, Nkhotakota district · Malawi
Arrested
1
Cannabis
2.15 t
Police at Kaombe roadblock in Nkhotakota district intercepted a high-roof minibus, registration BLK 2586, during the night of 3 August 2014 as it travelled from Dwangwa towards Salima on the M5 road.[1][2]A search found the minibus loaded with 43 bags of cannabis sativa, locally known as chamba, concealed in black plastic papers; the year-end police roundup describes them as bags of 50 kilograms each, about 2.15 tonnes.[1][2]
When officers asked for a licence for the drug, the two suspects reversed the minibus, and police shot out its front tyre.[1][2]Officers arrested 32-year-old James Kamanga while his companion escaped.[1][2]
Bail denied
Kamanga pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the Nkhotakota Magistrate’s Court on 5 August.[1]State prosecutor James Ngupasya Muyira registered four witnesses, and the state objected to bail, saying the case was sensitive because the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.[1]The court remanded Kamanga to Nkhotakota Prison until 14 August.[1]
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.
Police at an adhoc roadblock at Phalula, Balaka, stopped a KelFoods company van travelling from Lilongwe to Blantyre on 23 October 2026 and found 26 bags of chamba hidden under 135 bags of maize and egg crates. Driver George Benson, 41, said he loaded the cannabis at Chilanga, Kasungu, for delivery to a woman in Blantyre.
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.
