THE Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) in Lusaka has arrested a 64-year-old traditional healer for being in possession of US $93,000 counterfeit notes.

Emmanuel Mulenga, a resident of Matero Township, was arrested after conducting a search at his house where the counterfeit notes were found.

This is according to a statement released in Lusaka yesterday by DEC media liaison officer John Nyawali.
Nyawali said Mulenga is believed to be part of a group that had been selling counterfeit dollars to the unsuspecting public.

He said about US $200,000 of counterfeit notes has been seized so far this year.
Meanwhile, Nyawali disclosed that about three tonnes of cannabis were in the last seven days seized and 53 people arrested countrywide for trafficking in various quantities of the psychotropic substance.

Among those arrested is a 35-year-old woman of Shamenda village in chief Kazembe’s area in Kawambwa District for cultivating one tonne of cannabis.

Others arrested in separate incidents from different parts of the country were four Somali nationals and one Kenyan who were found with a total of 83 bundles of mirra.

Nyawali appealed to civic and traditional leaders to help sensitise people in their areas about the dangers of drug trafficking activities.

Nyawali said traditional and civic leaders should use their positions of influence to heighten the crop substitution programme advocated for by the Commission in order to let peasant farmers cultivate profitable and legal cash crops.