ADSU Uproots 42 Cannabis Plants from Mauritius Forest Areas

Mauritius's Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) — the specialist police division responsible for combating drug trafficking and cultivation on the island — seized 42 cannabis plants during a series of coordinated operations in forested areas on Tuesday, 29 September. The operations spanned three separate locations across the island and took place over the course of a single day. **Three raids, three locations** The first operation took place at 11:05 a.m. in Hauteur Accacia, a wooded area in the central part of Mauritius. Officers uprooted 14 cannabis plants ranging in height from 7 to 53 centimetres. A second raid followed at 1:00 p.m. on a forested plot in La Marie, a locality in the west of the island. That operation yielded 17 plants, with heights varying between 20 and 50 centimetres. The final intervention came at around 5:00 p.m. in a forest in La Brasserie, another inland area of Mauritius. Officers there dug up a further 11 plants measuring between 15 and 45 centimetres. In total, 42 cannabis plants were seized across the three sites in a single day. **Cultivators remain unidentified** As of the time of reporting, no arrests had been made and the identities of those responsible for cultivating the plants remain unknown. Investigations are ongoing. **What this means** Cannabis cultivation in remote forest and woodland areas is a recurring challenge for Mauritian law enforcement. Growers often choose dense or difficult-to-access terrain to avoid detection, making aerial or on-foot patrols by units like the ADSU an important part of the island's anti-drug strategy. While the scale of Tuesday's seizure — 42 young plants — is relatively modest, the fact that three separate sites were targeted on the same day suggests either coordinated intelligence work or routine patrol activity covering multiple zones simultaneously. Cannabis remains a controlled substance in Mauritius, and cultivation carries serious criminal penalties under the Dangerous Drugs Act. The ADSU operates under the Mauritius Police Force and regularly conducts such forest sweeps, particularly in the island's central and western highlands where tree cover provides concealment. Source: ION News