OTJIWARONGO – Four men implicated in the massive drug discovery at a commercial farm in the Hochfeld area on Wednesday, appeared in the Okahandja magistrate’s court on Friday. 

Police in Otjozondjupa police on Wednesday morning stumbled onto a huge plantation of cannabis with an estimated street value of more than N$ 52 million at a commercial farm at Hochfeld in the Okahandja district of Otjozondjupa region. 

The accused men are Armand Carel Schultz (27), a South African national and farm manager; farm owner David Strauss Van Der Linden (43); farm driver Johannes Kamati (61), and Jakob Ganai (43), who was arrested near the farm with a large consignment of cannabis with an estimated street value N$100 000 in his bag. 

The men appeared before acting magistrate Kito Paulus on charges of possession and/or dealing in illicit drugs, organised crime and racketeering and they all indicated to the court that they will engage the services of private lawyers for their bail application. 

Public prosecutor Sirkka Nangoro representing the State opposed bail, citing the serious nature of the offence and that police investigations are still in their infancy. 

The accused were remanded in custody and their case was postponed to 21 August 2025 to allow for further police investigations. 

Namibian Police Force crime investigations coordinator in the Otjozondjupa region, Deputy Commissioner Edna Nawa, on Thursday, told Nampa that the big discovery was made through an intelligence-driven operation that started in Okahandja on Wednesday morning at about 04h30. 

She said dried and fresh cannabis, some of it being grown under irrigation on a 1.55-hectare land was found on the farm. 

“It was also discovered that five sheds of corrugated iron sheets were being used for drying purposes, packaging and loading of cannabis on the farm,” Nawa said. 

Police investigations continue. – Nampa