20 farmers arrested in Zambia cannabis drive; 1,620 kg seized
Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission said it arrested 20 small-scale farmers for unlawful cannabis cultivation and trafficking, naming two suspects held with 600 kg and 422 kg of fresh plants. In the same briefing it reported that a Mongu court sentenced a farmer to five years' hard labour for 527 kg of plants and 71 kg of loose cannabis.
Zambia’s Drug Enforcement Commission said it arrested 20 small-scale farmers in
other parts of the country for unlawful cultivation and trafficking in cannabis.[1]The commission named Richard Chanda, 36, of Chafoma village in Muchinga
Province, as held for unlawful cultivation of 600 kg of fresh cannabis plants.[1]It also named Juliet Kalale, 36, a small-scale farmer of Chisenga village
in Serenje District, as held for unlawful cultivation of fresh cannabis plants
weighing 422 kg.[1]Uganda’s Observer, summarising the Zambian accounts,
separately reported that the commission had arrested 20 small-scale farmers for
unlawful cultivation and trafficking of cannabis.[2]
The Mongu Magistrates Court convicted Sitali Likando, 46, a small-scale farmer
of Njoko area in Mulobezi District, sentencing him to five years’ imprisonment
with hard labour effective 10 April 2017.[1]The commission said Likando had
been arrested on 9 April 2017 for unlawful cultivation of 527 kg of fresh
cannabis plants and trafficking in 71 kg of loose cannabis.[1]The cannabis
arrests were announced in the same DEC briefing as the arrest of Ugandan
businessman Isa Mutebi in Lusaka for possession of $79,500 in counterfeit notes.[1]Uganda’s Observer reported that DEC officers picked Mutebi up at a shopping
mall in Lusaka where he operated businesses.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
No separate date was given for the 20 farmer arrests; 12 April 2017, the publication date of the detailed DEC account, stands in for the incident date.
The total weight for all 20 farmers was not published; 1,620 kg is the sum of the individually stated seizures (600 kg plus 422 kg plus 527 kg plus 71 kg).
It is unclear whether Sitali Likando's 9 April arrest and 10 April conviction are part of the 20 arrests or a separate case announced in the same briefing.
No court outcomes were reported for the 20 arrested farmers, including Chanda and Kalale.
The sources give Mutebi's age as 33 and 36 in different accounts; this discrepancy concerns the counterfeit context, not the cannabis figures.
No figure for the number of plants, field areas, or values was published, and no photo confirmed to show the cannabis seizures was available.
The text gives a number of plants ("527 kg of plants") but the figures have no plants_destroyed; check whether it belongs there.
Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission arrested and jointly charged a Malawian man and a Zambian woman over 175 kg of dry cannabis carried from Malawi into Zambia through Lumezi district. Both were on the commission's watch list for cross-border trafficking.
Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission arrested four suspects and seized 25.4 kg of cannabis in intelligence-led operations across Muchinga, Southern and Lusaka provinces. Those held included Binwell Chanda with 18.5 kg in Mafinga, Selina Mwalama with 4.6 kg in Sinazongwe and a Congolese national with 2.3 kg at Chirundu, all awaiting court.
Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission arrested five suspects after intercepting a Copperbelt-bound public bus near Kasanda Police Station in Kabwe. The bus allegedly carried high-grade cannabis and Benylin with codeine, and the suspects were held for court.
Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission arrested Tanzanian national Ahmed Muharram in Lilayi, Lusaka, seizing 1,380.8 kg of high-grade cannabis linked to him. Six other suspects were held in the same coordinated operations, including two Burundian nationals in Chirundu, and all awaited court.
