Hassan Magulumali
The Drug Control and Enforcement Authority, in collaboration with citizens and other security agencies, conducted a nine-day special operation in Morogoro Region, targeting the villages of Nyarutanga, Lujenge, and Mafumbo in the districts of Morogoro Rural and Kilosa. During the operation in the villages of Mafumbo and Lujenge, the authorities destroyed a total of 1,165 acres of cannabis farms and seized 102 kilograms of cannabis seeds.
In the operation conducted in Nyarutanga village, six individuals were arrested with 342 kilograms of cannabis, and they will be brought to court once legal procedures are completed.
Speaking after the destruction of the farms, the Commissioner General of the Drug Control and Enforcement Authority, Aretas Lyimo, stated that the cannabis farms were cultivated along the banks of the Mbakana, Misigiri, and Mgeta rivers in the Mikumi National Park reserve area.
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“A significant amount of environmental damage has occurred in this area, where trees were cut down to make room for cannabis cultivation, thereby destroying the natural vegetation. The damage in the Mikumi reserve area harms the local ecosystem and greatly disrupts the natural vegetation, considering that these rivers flow into the Julius Nyerere Dam, which is vital for electricity generation.”
Lyimo expressed his deep gratitude to the citizens, especially the youth who volunteered to participate in the entire cannabis farm destruction exercise, as well as to the sixth government under Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan for empowering the Authority to carry out operations to destroy cannabis farms and eradicate drugs in Tanzania.
