3,000 marijuana plants uprooted in East Guadalcanal raids
On 12 August 2017 Solomon Islands police uprooted about 3,000 marijuana plants in two gardens at Mbarande and Mbalesuna in East Guadalcanal. One alleged grower was arrested and held in custody pending further investigation.
🇸🇧 Mbarande and Mbalesuna, East Guadalcanal · Solomon Islands
On 12 August 2017, a joint operation by Solomon Islands police from Honiara City
and Guadalcanal Province raided cannabis gardens in East Guadalcanal.[1]Officers uprooted and confiscated about 3,000 marijuana plants during the
operation.[1]Police raided two gardens in two different locations.[1]One
garden was at Mbarande and the other was at Mbalesuna, East Guadalcanal.[1]
Police apprehended one alleged suspect for farming the plants.[1]The suspect
was held in police custody pending further investigation.[1]
Chiefs and community elders welcomed the operation and appealed for more raids
to uproot marijuana around the Guadalcanal plains.[1]Guadalcanal Provincial
Police Commander Nixon Manetoga credited cooperation between the community and
police for the successful operation.[1]Manetoga appealed to local communities
to contact police and report any similar cultivation so police could remove it.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
On 2 August 2026 officers at Tetere station uprooted more than 300 marijuana plants at the riverside near Ngalimera community in North Guadalcanal. The suspected grower ran off before police arrived and no arrest was made. Police repeated that cultivation is a serious offence under the Dangerous Drugs Act.
Police at Taro in Choiseul arrested a 27-year-old man on 6 March 2025 and charged him with growing prohibited plants under section 8(a) and possessing a dangerous drug under section 8(b) of the Dangerous Drugs Act. Officers uprooted his plants and found cannabis on him at the arrest. The case shows both limbs of the 1941 law being used against a small grower.
On 20 August 2024 police in Auki uprooted nearly 200 marijuana plants near Ngadefiu village in Central Kwara'ae, Malaita. Community leaders had helped the police, and the alleged owner ran off before officers arrived; no arrest was reported. The provincial commander praised the village for acting against cultivation.
Solomon Islands police and the Participating Police Force raided cannabis plantations in the Guadalcanal Plains in early December 2013, starting at Roroni Community, and took 6,492 plants worth an estimated 13 million Solomon Islands dollars. After forensic samples, police burned the plants in a controlled burn, which the supervising commissioner called a record seizure.
