The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has arrested 62 peasant farmers countrywide and seized over ten tonnes of cannabis in the last seven days.
DEC public relations officer John Nyawali disclosed this during a media briefing in Kitwe.
Mr Nyawali said the latest arrest was yesterday when the commission arrested two peasant farmers of Kasata farming block in Chingola district who were found with 2.8 tones of cannabis field.
The two farmers, Kelvin Kabimbi and Tandeo Mwena, both aged 25 years, were cornered in an operation conducted by the DEC officers.
Mr Nyawali said the seizure in Chingola was the largest on the Copperbelt in the last five years.
He said the commission has also arrested 60 people country wide in the last one week after an operation in which 7.3 tones of various psychotropic substances were confiscated.
He said among the people arrested was one inmate of Mukobeko Maximum Prison in Kabwe, who was found with 19 balls of cannabis, and a grade 10 pupil of Imbolela high school in Serenje district, who was also found with 10 rolls of the banned drug.
Mr. Nyawali said the cultivation of cannabis in the country has reached alarming levels.
He has therefore appealed to farmers in the country to concentrate on growing cash crops which would sustain their food security and not engage in growing illegal drugs.
ZANIS
Ask Miko Zulu, maybe can help- by the way, musalu te bange people cook that- It is vegetable
GIVE THEM JOBS TO SURVIVE ON.
10 tonnes in seven days these if farming like this in our nation food security would be a non issue.
These peasants can’t make ends meet by growing maize & other crops that require fertilizers, seed and means to plough the fields. One bag of ferilizer costs over K200,000 & one needs at least 10. Check cost of hiring a tractor per hectre – over K100,000, labour for 8 months to produce 30 X 50kg bags of maize @ K38,000 = Total waste of time & energy for an individual for a total loss. What do you expect????
you DEC these are just plants….
leave them alone
I think DEC deserves a credit. They are doing a good Job. Is it possible to have Zambia Drug Free? I think even Tujili-jili should be banned because it is Kachasu in a nicely packed plastic. Can the government do something to Tujili-jili before it’s too late please.
What happens to the weed after the court case, Remember what happened to the cocaine at Ndola everything has gone quite. Stop the poor man but give to the rich