The Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court has sentenced two men nine years imprisonment with hard labor each for possessing 11 bags of Indian hemp locally known as chamba.
The two, James Miles and Lingston Misomali, were found guilty today before Magistrate Florence Msekandiana.
The court learnt through prosecutor Richard Kandeya that the two were arrested at Lilongwe Bus Depot on 17 September this year.
It is said they were in transit to Mulanje with chamba which they had bought in Mzimba.
They pleaded guilty to the charge but asked the court to consider giving them a soft fine.
Kandeya, however, prayed for a stiffer penalty saying it was an organized crime since they had traveled for a long distance without detection.
Magistrate Msekandiana bought into the state’s argument and settled for a custodial sentence without an option of a fine.
She sent the two to prison each to serve nine years behind bars to deter other would-be offenders.
She also ordered the Indian hemp be destroyed in the presence of a magistrate, a court marshall and a police officer.
Miles, 29, comes from Sayenda Village and Misomali, 57, is from Saopa Village both under Traditional Authority Mthilamanja in Mulanje District.
