2 arrested for possessing Chamba

Police in Mulanje have arrested two men for being found in possession of Indian hemp, locally known as Chamba.

Mulanje police spokesperson Gresham Ngwira said the two, Boster Chawinga, 29 and Paul Batson, 42, were arrested Monday.

“A Toyota Corolla registration number KA 4516 was parked along the road at Lundu. Some officers on duty wanted to find out what was wrong with the vehicle but when the driver realised that the police were heading towards their direction, he drove off. Unfortunately the vehicle lost balance and hit a tree.”

According to Ngwira, when officers searched inside the vehicle they uncovered 45 black plastic bags containing Chamba.
They arrested the two passengers while the driver escaped.

Ngwira said the items will be taken to Bvumbwe Research Station for examination. The two will answer an offence of being found in possession of cannabis sativa contrary to Section 4 (a) of Dangerous Drugs Act.

Chawinga is from Misuku village in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwenemisuku in Chitipa while Batson hails from Ng’omba village in Mulanje district.

Meanwhile, Police in Dedza have also arrested two men for being found with fake currency amounting to K1 million ($1 370). The fake money was in Malawi Kwacha.

Dedza police station deputy spokesperson Cassim Manda identified the two as Themba Nyirenda 46 and Benard Nyirenda 41 both from Chiyona- Nyirenda Village in chief M’mbelwa’s in Mzimba.

Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, Manda said the two are suspected to have planned to dupe Malawians coming from South Africa by exchanging the forged notes with Malawian currency.

Meanwhile, the two have been charged with an offence of importing or purchasing forged currency.