Ntcheu police uproot 500 cannabis plants in Njolomole village
Ntcheu police uprooted about 500 cannabis plants in Njolomole Village in late February 2026 after residents tipped off officers; three suspected growers fled before the operation ended. The clearance came days after officers destroyed another cannabis field in nearby Wanyemba Village.
Police in Ntcheu district uprooted about 500 cannabis plants in Njolomole Village, under Chief Njolomole, in an operation reported on 26 February 2026.[1]A second account published the day before gives the same figure and place.[2]
Ntcheu police spokesperson Inspector Jacob Khembo said residents provided the information that led officers to the illegal cultivation.[1][2]Three people suspected of growing the crop fled before the operation was completed, so no arrests were reported.[1]The second account likewise says the three suspects are on the run.[2]
The Njolomole clearance came about five days after officers destroyed another cannabis field in Wanyemba Village, under Chief Kwataine.[1]That earlier operation is a separate event and its plants are not counted here.[1]
Malawi licences regulated cannabis cultivation, and the destruction prompted some farmers and community members to call for clearer communication on the licensing framework, including who may apply.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
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.
Nkhotakota police burned more than three tonnes of Indian hemp accumulated between June and December 2019 inside the Nkhotakota Game Reserve, in an exercise witnessed by the district council, the magistrate's court and the media. The hemp had been seized at the district roadblock, on uncharted routes and in homes.
Nkhotakota police burned five tonnes of confiscated chamba at a dumpsite near the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, hemp accumulated since mid-2017. The district registers at least one smuggling case a week, and police say the lakeshore road is a favoured traffickers' route.
Nkhotakota police and game officers uprooted and burned about three acres of Indian hemp planted inside the Nkhotakota Game Reserve along the Likowa River. Officers also found further large chamba fields nearby that they had yet to act on, and no arrests were reported.
