The Chisamba Magistrate’s Court sentenced Alfred Phiri, 24, of Kabanana Compound, to 18 months’ imprisonment with hard labour for trafficking in 17.1 grams of cannabis, the Lusaka Times reported on 13 October 2026.[1] He pleaded guilty before Magistrate Litungi Litungi to one count of trafficking in psychotropic substances.[1]
Drug Enforcement Commission officers found eight sachets of the drug on Phiri on 17 September after a tip-off from members of the public, and arrested him on 22 September.[1] A laboratory at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka found the substance was cannabis sativa with a THC content of 0.79 percent, above the legal limit of 0.3 percent.[1]
In mitigation Phiri asked for leniency and said he was a Grade 8 pupil; the court questioned the claim, and he later said he had left school in Grade 7 about ten years earlier.[1] The magistrate said the offence carries a minimum of one year and a maximum of 25 years, and took into account that Phiri was a first offender who had admitted the charge.[1] The court ordered the cannabis forfeited to the State and burned in the presence of court officials.[1]
