Over 1,100 Cannabis Plants Seized in Three Mauritius Raids

Mauritius police anti-drug units conducted a sweeping series of operations on Sunday 1 November, uprooting more than 1,100 cannabis plants from abandoned and overgrown land across three locations on the island.

The Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU), the specialist narcotics branch of the Mauritius Police Force, launched its first operation early in the morning at Bambous-Virieux, a coastal village on the south-east of the island. Officers combed through an abandoned plot of land and discovered 416 cannabis plants ranging from 10 to 90 centimetres in height, all of which were uprooted and removed.

Later that morning, the police Helicopter Squadron was brought in to support a search in The Vale, a rural area in the north of the island. The aerial sweep identified four cannabis plants, between 10 and 65 centimetres tall, hidden within dense scrubland. Without the helicopter unit, the plants would have been extremely difficult to locate on foot.

The largest find of the day came during a combined air and ground operation at Piton, a mountainous area in the north-west of the island. Officers discovered an extensive illegal plantation and uprooted 723 plants, the tallest of which reached 1.7 metres. The sheer size and maturity of several plants suggests the crop had been cultivated over a significant period without detection.

Across all three sites, a total of 1,143 cannabis plants were removed from circulation. No arrests have been made so far. The growers remain unidentified and police investigations are ongoing.

What this means: Cannabis cultivation is illegal in Mauritius under the Dangerous Drugs Act, which carries serious penalties including lengthy prison sentences. Large-scale outdoor plantations on abandoned or remote land are a recurring challenge for authorities, precisely because they are difficult to detect without aerial surveillance. Sunday's operations highlight the growing role of the police Helicopter Squadron in drug enforcement, allowing officers to scan wide areas of scrubland and mountainous terrain that ground patrols cannot easily reach. The failure to identify any suspects so far means the investigation will likely focus on land ownership records, footpaths leading to the sites, and any surveillance footage in surrounding areas.

Source: ION News