Zambia’s Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) seized more than eight tonnes of cannabis in joint operations with the police, immigration and wildlife officers in Eastern and Central provinces, the Commission announced in a statement issued in Lusaka on Thursday 16 October 2025.[1] In Mambwe District, officers arrested seven suspects in Muzambwe village in the Mfuwe area, where they found 8.1 tonnes of fresh cannabis plants and 101 kilograms of dry cannabis allegedly cultivated and stored for illicit trade.[1] In Nchelenge District, officers arrested a woman aged 37 with 70.7 kilograms of dry cannabis concealed in dry banana bark and packed in polythene sacks ready for distribution.[1] DEC spokesperson Allan Tamba said the arrests followed sustained surveillance and intelligence work against cultivation and trafficking networks, and that all the suspects were in custody to appear in court.[1]
DEC seizes over 8 tonnes of cannabis in eastern Zambia; eight arrested
Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission seized 8.1 tonnes of fresh cannabis plants and 101 kilograms of dry cannabis in Mambwe District and 70.7 kilograms in Nchelenge District in joint operations announced on 16 October 2025. Eight suspects were arrested and held for court.
🇿🇲 Mfuwe area, Mambwe District and Nchelenge District · Zambia
- Arrested
- 8
- Cannabis
- 8.2717 t
- Agencies
- Drug Enforcement Commission, Zambia Police Service +2
- Cannabis
- Living plants, Herbal cannabis
- Case stage
- Under investigation
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
- Arrested
- 8
- Cannabis
- 8.2717 t
- Agencies
- Drug Enforcement Commission; Zambia Police Service; Department of National Parks and Wildlife; Immigration Department
- Agency type
- Anti-narcotics agency, Police
- Cannabis
- Living plants (8.1 t); Herbal cannabis (171.7 kg)
- Activity
- Cultivation, Trafficking
- Setting
- Field
- Case stage
- Under investigation
- Date
- Approximate
Sources
- Zambia Monitorzambiamonitor.comIn joint operation, security operatives seize over 8 tonnes of cannabis, $230,000 in counterfeit currency
Open questions the AI reported
- The whole account rests on the DEC statement as published by one outlet; no independent reporting of the operations was found.
- The exact dates of the Mambwe and Nchelenge operations were not published; 16 October is the date of the DEC statement announcing them.
- The same statement reports four arrests with counterfeit US currency in Mumbwa, a non-cannabis matter excluded from these figures.
- Whether the eight suspects were charged or tried was not reported.
