Priest and six women held over 9.2 tonnes of cultivated cannabis in Sesheke
Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission arrested a New Apostolic Church priest and six women on Christmas Day 2009 for cultivating a combined 9.2 tonnes of cannabis near the church in Sesheke district, allegedly grown under contract for export to neighbouring countries.
🇿🇲 Siomboka congregation, Chief Imalenda's area, Sesheke district · Zambia
Zambia’s Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) arrested a priest of the New Apostolic Church in Sesheke district on Christmas Day 2009 for cultivating cannabis near the churchyard.[1]DEC spokesperson John Nyawali said in a media statement that William Pumulo Siomboka, 37, had cultivated 2.1 tonnes of cannabis in fields about 150 metres from the church premises.[1]
Siomboka, of the Siomboka congregation in Chief Imalenda’s area, was arrested together with six women from the same area who had cultivated a combined 7.1 tonnes of cannabis.[1]Preliminary investigations indicated the group had been contracted to grow the cannabis, which was earmarked for export to neighbouring countries.[1]Nyawali said the DEC was disheartened by custodians of good morals joining the drug trade and urged people to uphold ethics and morals.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The account rests on a single opened report of the DEC statement, so no second newsroom account was checked.
The statement does not say whether the fields were destroyed, or whether the priest and the six women were charged or tried.
The same article mentions about 700 kg seized and 17 arrests on Christmas Day without saying where; that fragment is left out here as a possibly separate event.
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