The cultivation and use of marijuana is rapidly rising across Africa as farmers, hit by low commodity prices, increasingly see the drug as a cash crop.

Pressure for legalizing marijuana is increasing in many African countries as legalized pot in the U.S. and Uruguay leads the way.

“At the moment, farmers choose to cultivate marijuana over traditional crops because it commands a far higher market price on the black market both at home and abroad,” Zambian Green Party President Peter Sinkamba told Anadolu Agency.

SAPSPolice spotted a group of men carrying the bags and accompanying 30 donkeys near Sandlwana.

Durban - In one of the biggest dagga busts in KwaZulu-Natal, police arrested 13 men using 30 donkeys to smuggle dagga worth millions of rand across the mountains from Lesotho into South Africa.

In a joint raid, mounted units from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the police made the arrests in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park.

In total, 66 bags of dagga with a street value of R3.6 million were seized.

The 13 men, aged between 25 and 33, were expected to appear in the Bergville Magistrate’s Court on Friday for being in possession of dagga and an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.