Tanzania seizes 30 tonnes of narcotic drug disguised as fertilizers
What you need to know:
- Both shipments entered through the Port of Dar es Salaam with full documentation and were delivered to storage facilities before being seized.
Dar es Salaam. The Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA) has intercepted a total of 30 tonnes of mitragyna speciosa, a new type of narcotic drug, smuggled into Tanzania disguised as fertilizer for vegetable and flower gardens.
The latest seizure involved 18.5 tonnes packed in 756 bags inside a 40-foot container, brought into the country for repackaging and sale in both local and international markets. Laboratory tests later confirmed that the shipment contained narcotics, not fertilizer.
This follows a June operation in which officials intercepted another 11.5 tonnes of the same drug, also shipped in a 40-foot container and labeled as fertilizer. Both shipments entered through the Port of Dar es Salaam with full documentation and were delivered to storage facilities before being seized.
DCEA Commissioner General Aretas Lyimo said seven suspects have been arrested in connection with the latest seizure, including two Sri Lankan nationals and five Tanzanians.
He added that the suspects were also behind the June shipment and have carried out similar operations in other countries without being caught.
“The seizure of mitragyna speciosa highlights new challenges in the fight against narcotics in Tanzania,” said Lyimo. “We will continue to strengthen monitoring and control of this drug and others. The traffickers moved quickly, thinking we would be too occupied with the earlier seizure to notice this one.”
Mitragyna speciosa, derived from the kratom plant found mainly in Southeast Asia, has effects similar to opiates such as heroin and morphine.
It impacts the nervous system, causes addiction, and in some cases, sudden death. Due to its harmful effects and toxic compounds, many countries have banned its production, transportation, and use.
Mr Lyimo warned that traffickers believe new drugs are harder to detect and lack legal restrictions, but this is not true.
The DCEA now has equipment capable of testing for over 12,000 types of narcotics, with 1,300 new substances currently identified worldwide.
The World Drug Report 2024 identifies new synthetic drugs as particularly dangerous because they mimic controlled narcotics such as cannabis, khat, heroin, and cocaine.
These substances are often disguised to evade the law and are sometimes mixed into dangerous drug cocktails, known by street names such as “Kush,” “Karkoubi,” and “Gutter Water” or “Nyaope.” Such mixtures may contain heroin, cannabis, ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, cocaine, caffeine, codeine, morphine, diazepam, alcohol, and solvents.
These combinations can cause extreme intoxication, rapid addiction, severe health problems, and, in some cases, death from overdose.
