This report from Namibia’s New Era Media.
The four suspects in the Hochfield case 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.
They 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.
Their arrest and court appearance follows the discovery by police in Otjozondjupa of a large plantation of cannabis with an estimated street value of millions of Namibian dollars at a commercial farm at Hochfeld in the Okahandja.
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 said the dried and fresh cannabis, some of it being grown under irrigation on a 1.55-hectare land ,was found on the farm (see picture above) .
“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.
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