Over 7,400 Cannabis Plants Seized in Riche-en-Eau Sugar Field

More than 7,400 cannabis plants have been uprooted and seized after a major drug operation in Riche-en-Eau, a rural area in the southeast of Mauritius, following a chance aerial sighting by a police helicopter crew. **How the discovery was made** The bust began when a crew from the Police Helicopter Squadron (PHS) — the aerial surveillance and patrol unit of the Mauritius Police Force — spotted a large number of cannabis plants growing inside a sugarcane field while returning from a routine patrol. The concealment of cannabis among sugarcane is a known tactic used by growers in Mauritius, as the tall cane provides natural cover from ground-level detection. The PHS crew immediately relayed the intelligence to the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) based in Mahébourg, the main town in the Grand Port district. The ADSU is the dedicated narcotics enforcement branch of the Mauritius Police Force, responsible for investigating and dismantling drug operations across the island. **The operation** Acting on the aerial tip-off, the ADSU Mahébourg team mounted a ground operation to locate and destroy the plantation. Officers entered the field and uprooted a total of **7,414 cannabis plants**, which were then seized as evidence. No arrests have been publicly reported at this stage, and investigations are ongoing. **What this means** This seizure is significant in scale. Cannabis cultivation in Mauritius is illegal under the Dangerous Drugs Act, and growing or trafficking the drug carries severe penalties including lengthy prison sentences. Large-scale plantations hidden in agricultural land — particularly sugarcane fields, which cover vast tracts of the island — present an ongoing enforcement challenge for authorities. The use of the Police Helicopter Squadron for aerial surveillance has proven to be an increasingly effective tool in detecting hidden crops that would otherwise go unnoticed by ground patrols. This case underlines the role that aerial intelligence plays in Mauritius's counter-narcotics strategy. Riche-en-Eau falls within the Grand Port district, one of the island's more rural and agricultural regions, where open land and sugarcane estates can inadvertently provide cover for illegal activity. Source: ION News