Lesotho’s High Court has ruled that police acted unlawfully when they seized and held a shipment of medicinal cannabis belonging to a licensed company, the Lesotho Times reported on 4 September 2026. The police have since handed the goods back.
What happened
Leribe-based Banel (Pty) Ltd says its shipment, valued at about US$75,000 (roughly M1.23 million), arrived from Thailand at Moshoeshoe I International Airport in February 2026. Rather than being released to the company’s clearing agents, it was collected by officers from the Lesotho Mounted Police Service’s Drugs and Diamonds Unit. The cargo is described as dried cannabis flower in several strains, including OG Kush and Northern Lights.
The Lesotho Times refers both to a 500 kg consignment and to two consignments of that size, so the exact quantity should be confirmed with the court record.
The company’s case
Banel’s managing director, Kananelo Ntabejane, told the court the company held a government-issued import permit dated 27 February 2026 and had paid customs duties and taxes. He said Banel is licensed to manufacture, extract, process, store, distribute, import and export medicinal and botanical cannabis products, and that the cargo was headed for its processing facility in Peka.
According to his account, police first said the goods were only being held temporarily while they were counted, but the detention dragged on for months. He also said no search-and-seizure warrant was shown, and warned that the product could lose value while sitting in custody. Banel went to court urgently in July 2026, relying on constitutional protection against arbitrary deprivation of property and on the Drugs of Abuse Act.
The ruling
Justice Maliepollo Makhetha reviewed and set aside the seizure and directed police to release the consignments to Banel. The Times reports that police complied. Its report does not include a response from the police.
Why it matters
For licensed operators, the case shows that permits and licences can be enforced through the courts when border or police action cuts across them. For investors, it is a reminder that regulatory approval and day-to-day enforcement do not always line up.
The dispute comes as Lesotho reshapes its cannabis oversight. Cannabiz Africa reported on 6 May 2026 that the country has set up the Lesotho Medicines Regulatory Authority (LeMeRA) and the Lesotho Narcotics Bureau in the past year, with new cannabis licensing regulations gazetted in December 2025 and further rules still in draft. Nothing in the reports links the two developments.
What this means for you
- Licensed operators: keep permits, licences and customs paperwork together and easy to produce at the border.
- Investors: regulatory clarity is improving, but coordination between agencies is worth checking in due diligence.
- Everyone else: the ruling concerns an authorised company’s medicinal shipment. It does not change the rules for individuals.
What to watch next
Look out for any police response or appeal, and for the draft regulations that Cannabiz Africa said are expected to be gazetted by the second quarter of the 2026/27 fiscal year.
Information current as of 28 September 2026. This article is for information only and is not legal or medical advice. It relies on one news report of court proceedings.
Related reading
- Lesotho: The Tiny Kingdom Quietly Becoming Africa’s Cannabis Export Powerhouse
- 7 African Countries Where Cannabis Is Already Legal