Police burn 3 acres of Indian hemp

Police on Tuesday raided an Indian hemp (chamba) farm inside Nkhotakota Game Reserve where they uprooted and destroyed over three acres of the illicit drug.

Police say the operation was jointly carried out by police, villagers from Bamba and parks, wildlife and game reserve rangers from the district, who discovered the farm while officials from the courts, district council and faith leaders were witnesses.

Nkhotakota Police Station spokesperson Williams Kaponda said on Wednesday, the three-acre farm was situated along the banks of Likowa River, which borders Senior Chief Mwadzama and Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwansambo’s areas.

He said the exercise, which is a major breakthrough in the war against chamba cultivation, came a few days after the discovery of the farm by the parks and wildlife officials, who reported the matter to police.

Kaponda said so far, noone has been arrested in connection with the cultivation of the Indian hemp, which were burnt using 120 litres of petrol and 150 litres of diesel.

Meanwhile, the police spokesperson said they were yet to uproot and destroy other Indian hemp plantations discovered at Mwalawamphasa and Kanjedza villages.

Nkhotakota District is well known for growing chamba, which some farmers inter-crop with cassava, sugar cane and maize. n