/ 31 August 2001

120 TONS OF DAGGA UP IN SMOKE

POLICE in Tanzania’s northern region of Arusha this week burnt 120 tonnes of marijuana impounded recently, a senior official said on Thursday. “The exercise took place at a forest on the slopes of Mount Meru and it took three days to destroy all 120 tonnes,” said Placid Chaka, the Arusha regional police commander. Police also destroyed marijuana under cultivation in farms whose total area was estimated at 120 hectares in the same area. Several people have been arrested in connection with narcotic cultivation. Chaka said the drugs haul had been impounded following tip offs from residents of Olmotonyi and Mount Meru areas. The region has a history of hemp cultivation, he added. – AFP