Image above: Illicit cannabis fields on Janick Island off the coast of The Gambia, West Africa.
The law is finally coming to The Gambia’s ‘Cannabis Paradise’ Jinack Island after the country’s top police brass invoked national laws to stop villagers on this cannabis-growing enclave from continuing to cultivate their favourite cash crop.
It is illegal to cultivate, use or possess cannabis in The Gambia but villagers of Jinack Island have continued to grow the plant relatively undisturbed in the past because of the ‘ancestral curse’ that has given the island a ‘Treasure Island’ reputation.
In the immediate aftermath of Cannabiz Africa running an article on how villagers carried on cultivating cannabis under what appeared an informal exemption from the law, The Gambia’s Anti-Narcotics Chief has appeared in a video threatening to bring Jinack firmly under the country’s counter-drugs regulations.
Police Chief Demba Ceesay vowed to target Jinack’s cannabis farms saying the police would move in on the enclave to root out cannabis plantations. Speaking to the editor of the local Alkamba Times Sainey Marenah, Ceesay said Jinack was a part of The Gambia and national laws where applicable there. He brushed aside the editor’s concerns that the villagers’ livelihoods were being taken away and said the law supersedes illegality.
Police have held off on clamping down on the island because the ancestral curse is said to befall any authority figure trying to interfere in inhabitants’ affairs on the tiny fishing island.
Mainland authorities attempted to stop the illicit grows only to be met with fierce resistance by Jinack Islanders, invoking the spirits of their ancestors. Law enforcement appeared to have made a tactical withdrawal afterwards. However, the tide has now turned and the villagers appear to be on the back foot this time.
Jinack was in the news recently for “church planting” after Nigerian Pastor Babatunde Adeniyi(47) and his family arrived a short while ago to sow the seed of Christianity, and recordedmodest successes in turning the villagers away from their dubious activity.
The island’s leaders reportedly displayed a willingness to cooperate with authorities to find alternative legal means of survival following Adeniyi’s intervention in the enclave of 2 000 people.
The Gambia is a key illicit substances transit and consumption hub in West Africa, known for the shipment of narcotics including cocaine, heroin and cannabis, destined for Europe and other regions.
Cannabis remains the most commonly consumed and seized drug, linked with cross-border syndicates. As a consequence, the country’s anti-narcotics unit, The Drug Law Enforcement Agency The Gambia (DLEAG) has its hands full, leading domestic crackdown with support from international partners.
The country’s former leaders and institutions have also been implicated in drug trafficking. As recently as July 2026, the country’s First Lady Fatoumata Bah Barrow, wife of President Adamu Barrow, and Interior Minister Abdoulie Sanyang were accused of involvement.
Cannabis cultivation, possession, use and trade are outlawed in terms of The Drug Control Act. Latest published drug seizures statistics date back to as far as 2023 when The Gambia’s police reported almost two tonnes of narcotics confiscated, with figures for 2024 and 2025 still unpublished.
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